Echoes of Andalusia -Sephardic Retention In The Built Environment of Kingston, Jamaica

By Basil Fletcher, Kingston , Jamaica, September 2016

Contents
Islamic Architecture of Andalusia ............................................................................................................. 7
Islamic art .................................................................................................................................................... 17
Calligraphy .............................................................................................................................................. 20
Painting ................................................................................................................................................... 21
Rugs and carpets ..................................................................................................................................... 23
Ceramics .................................................................................................................................................. 25
Tiling .................................................................................................................................................... 26
Glass ........................................................................................................................................................ 27
Metalwork ............................................................................................................................................... 29
Other applied arts ................................................................................................................................... 30
Precious stones ................................................................................................................................... 30
House and furniture ............................................................................................................................ 31
Ivory .................................................................................................................................................... 31
Silk ....................................................................................................................................................... 32
Indonesian Batik.................................................................................................................................. 33
History of Islamic art ............................................................................................................................... 33
Beginnings ........................................................................................................................................... 33
Medieval period (9th15th centuries) ................................................................................................ 36
The Three Empires .............................................................................................................................. 42
Modern period ........................................................................................................................................ 45
References .............................................................................................................................................. 49
Islamic geometric patterns ......................................................................................................................... 50
Background ............................................................................................................................................. 52
Islamic decoration ............................................................................................................................... 52
2

Purpose ............................................................................................................................................... 52
Pattern formation ................................................................................................................................... 54
Evolution ................................................................................................................................................. 57
Early stage ........................................................................................................................................... 57
Middle stage........................................................................................................................................ 57
Late stage ............................................................................................................................................ 58
Artforms .................................................................................................................................................. 58
Ceramics .............................................................................................................................................. 59
Girih tilings and woodwork ................................................................................................................. 59
Jali ....................................................................................................................................................... 59
Kilim .................................................................................................................................................... 60
Leather ................................................................................................................................................ 61
Metalwork ........................................................................................................................................... 61
Muqarnas ............................................................................................................................................ 61
Stained glass........................................................................................................................................ 61
Zellige .................................................................................................................................................. 62
Illustrations ......................................................................................................................................... 62
In Western culture .................................................................................................................................. 64
Notes ....................................................................................................................................................... 66
References .............................................................................................................................................. 67
External links ........................................................................................................................................... 71
Further reading ....................................................................................................................................... 72

Introduction
In a country in which it is nearly if not impossible to find a single native pure breed black or white
person, Jamaica will be able to locate its position among the developed and advance nations of the
4

world when it accepts the fact that in its historical past,it played the roles of both victim and victimizers,
slaves and slave owners, raped and rapers. In short, it has to accept its DNA as a Near Black Nation
through which the blood of many people mix and flow. This book should be seen as a part of that wider
process of search for and acceptance of the Jamaican Self, an ongoing process which is taking place also
within the Jamaican Jewish community.
The objective of Jewish historiography within the Jamaican context is in the main one of stating in the
clearest possible terms that "this has been up now the Jewish contribution to Project Jamaica and this is
who we are-an inseparable part of the Jamaican nation state". Secondly and of equal importance, is
Jamaicas search and quest to define its position and its relationship with Hispanic America with which it
shares a common but distinctively different history. It is the hope of the author that the questions as
related to being a Jamaican with Jewish blood and or origin and being a Jamaican in a Hispanic world will
find those answers which contribute to the development of the individuals sense of being and identity
as a citizen of the Americas in particular and the world in general. In doing so it is hoped that Jewish
Jamaica will come to a deeper understanding of the debt of being which they owe only Europe but
perhaps more importantly Africa and the Muslim world, specifically Morocco and North Africa.

This coffee table book is divided into five sections, namely: - (1) Places of worship (2) Buildings
used for business purposes (3) Residential buildings (4) Tiling and finishing and (5) Structures in
urgent need of repair and or restoration. In lieu of a conclusion, information is given as to the
agencies and organizations which are able to facilitate the traveller in the organization and
planning of tours. A mini bar guide is given to also to facilitate those who seek to sit eat and or
to drink with ordinary Jamaicans in the heart of Kingston. It is of importance to note here, that
the photos presented here, represents but a very small sample of examples of Sephardic Jewish
Retentions in Jamaica.

For those who were and still be concerned about the fate of and the decades of silence of the Children
of Andalusia, all evidence points to their continued presence in Jamaica, all be it that most in the form
of Christians belonging to the various Christian denominations, some as Rastafarians and some as
adherents to the Muslim fate. Some have preserved the physical features which were moulded by some
500 years of history in Spain; some now bear the features of the Afro-Jamaican and others with the
faces and eyes of Northern Europe. They the Children of Andalusia are here in all forms, colours and
shapes.

To those Jews and others who would like to visit Kingston, Jamaica, please come with the confidence
knowing that you are visiting the home of your own, the land which Christopher Columbus left as a
legacy to his daughter, the land which from the beginning was intended to be free of the intolerances
and prejudices which forced the Children of Andalusia across the seas into the unknown. A Jewish
5

occupied island in which the British found horses, cows and hogs feeding in the same pastures and
drinking of the same waters, the clean and the unclean dwelling in peace and harmony. Welcome.
As the photos at the end of the book shows, there is a lot of work to be done in restoring some
structures, yet we are confident that with time and investment, these structure will be restored to their
previous splendour and play their role in the tourism industry of Kingston.
We welcome you to enjoy The Echoes of Andalusia - Sephardic Retention In The Built Environment of
Kingston, Jamaica.

Thanks is given to all publishers and authors of background information presented herein.
Basil Fletcher

Islamic Architecture of Andalusia

By John Noble on September 22, 2012 in Architecture, Nasrid, Umayyads

Owen Jones and Jules Goury, arched window from the volume Plans, elevations, sections &
details of The Alhambra, published 1837.
Spains Islamic centuries (AD 711-1492) left a particularly rich heritage of exotic and beautiful
palaces, mosques, minarets and fortresses in Andalusia, which was always the heartland of AlAndalus (as the Muslim- ruled areas of the Iberian Peninsula were known). These buildings
make Andalusia visually unique in Europe and have to be classed as its greatest architectural
glory. Nor is the legacy of the Islamic era just a matter of the big, eye-catching monuments: after
the Christian reconquest of Andalucia (1227-1492), many Islamic buildings were simply
repurposed for Christian ends. As a result, many of todays Andalucian churches are simply
converted mosques (most famously at Crdoba), many church towers began life as minarets, and
the zig-zagging streets of many an old town Granadas Albayzin district is just one famous
example originated in labyrinthine Islamic-era street plans.

THE OMAYYADS
Islam the word means Surrender or Acceptance (to the will of Allah) was founded by the
prophet Mohammed in the Arabian city of Mecca in the 7th Century AD. It spread rapidly to the
north, east and west, reaching Spain in 711. In 750 the Damascus- based Omayyad dynasty of
caliphs, rulers of the Muslim world, were overthrown by the revolutionary Abbasids, who shifted
the caliphate to Baghdad. Just one of the Omayyad family, Abul-Mutarrif Abd ar-Rahman bin
Muawiya, escaped. Aged only 20, he made for Morocco and thence Spain. In 756 he managed to
set himself up as an independent emir, Abd ar-Rahman I, in Crdoba, launching a dynasty based
in that city that lasted until 1009 and made Al-Andalus, at the western extremity of the Islamic
world, the last outpost of Omayyad culture.

Elevation of the gate of the sanctuary of the Koran from the book Arabian Antiquities of
Spain by Murphy, James Cavanah, 1760-1814 ,published in 1816.
8

THE HORSESHOE ARCH: Omayyad architecture in Spain was enriched by styles and
techniques taken up from the Christian Visigoths, whom the Omayyads replaced as rulers of the
Iberian Peninsula. Chief among these was what became almost the hallmark of Spanish Islamic
architecture the horseshoe arch so called because it narrows at the bottom like a horseshoe,
rather than being a simple semicircle.

The Mezquita of Crdoba

The oldest significant surviving Spanish Islamic building is also arguably the most magnificent
and the most influential. The great Mezquita of Crdoba was founded by Abd ar-Rahman I in
AD 785 and underwent major extensions under his successors Abd ar-Rahman II in the first half
of the 9th Century, Al-Hakim II in the 960s and Al-Mansur in the 970s.

A general view of the interior of the Mosque at Cordova from the book Arabian Antiquities of
Spain by Murphy, James Cavanah, 1760-1814 ,published in 1816.
Abd ar-Rahman Is initial mosque was a Square split into two rectangular halves: a covered
prayer hall, and an open ablutions courtyard where the faithful would wash before entering the
prayer hall. The Mezquitas prayer hall broke away from the verticality of earlier great Islamic
buildings such as the Great Mosque of Damascus and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
Instead it created a broad horizontal space recalling the yards of desert homes that formed the
original Islamic prayer spaces, and conjured up visions of palm groves with mesmerising lines of
two-tier, red-and-white-striped arches in the prayer hall. The prayer hall maintained a reminder
of the basilical plan of some early Islamic buildings in having a central nave of arches,
9

broader than the others, leading to the mihrab, the niche indicating the direction of Mecca (and
thus of prayer) that is key to the layout of any mosque.
In its final 10th-century form the Crdoba Mezquitas roof was supported by 1293 columns.
The Mezquitas later enlargements extended the lines of arches to cover an area of nearly 120 sq
metres, making it one of the biggest of all mosques. These arcades afford ever-changing
perspectives, vistas disappearing into infinity and plays of light and rhythm that rank among the
Mezquitas most mesmerising and unique features. The most important enlargement was carried
out in the 960s by Al-Hakim II, who created a magnificent new mihrab, decorated with superb
Byzantine mosaics imitating those of the Great Mosque of Damascus, one of the outstanding 8thcentury Syrian Omayyad buildings. In front of the mihrab Al-Hakim II added a new royal prayer
enclosure, the maksura. The maksura s multiple interwoven arches and lavishly decorated
domes were much more intricate and technically advanced than anything previously seen in
Europe. The maksura formed part of a second axis to the building, an aisle running along in front
of the wall containing the mihrab known as the qibla wall because it indicates the qibla, the
direction of Mecca. This transverse axis, at right angles to the central nave, creates the T-plan
that features strongly in many mosques.
Al-Hakims Mezquita is the high point of the splendid lOth-century caliphal phase of Spanish
Islamic architecture so called because this was the era of the Cordoban caliphate founded by
Al-Hakims father, Abdar-Rahman III. The plan of Al-Hakim IIs building is obscured by the
Christian cathedral that was plonked right in the middle of the mosque in the 16th Century, but
when you are in the Mezquita it is still quite possible to work out the dimensions of each phase
of its construction.
ISLAMIC DECORATIVE MOTIFS: The mosaic decoration around Al-Hakim lls 10th-century
mihrab portal exhibits all three of the decorative types permissible in Islamic holy places:
stylised inscriptions in classical Arabic, geometric patterns, and stylised plant and floral patterns.
At this early stage of Hispano-Islamic art, the plant and floral decorations were still relatively
naturalistic: later they become more stylised, more geometrical and more repetitive, adopting the
mathematically conceived patterns known as arabesques. By the time Granadas Alhambra was
built in the 14th Century, vegetal and geometric decorative forms had become almost
indistinguishable.

Other Omayyad Buildings

In AD 936 Abd ar-Rahman III built himself a new capital just west of Crdoba. Medina Azahara,
named after his favourite wife, Az-Zahra, was planned as a royal residence, palace and seat of
government, set away from the hubbub of the city in the same manner as the Abbasid royal city
of Samarra, north of Baghdad. Its chief architect was Abd ar-Rahman IIIs son, Al-Hakim II,
who later embellished the Crdoba Mezquita so superbly. In contrast to Middle Eastern palaces,
whose typical reception hall was a domed iwan (hall opening to a forecourt), Medina Azaharas
10

reception halls had a basilical plan, each with three or more parallel naves similar to mosque
architecture.

Medina Azahara
Though Medina Azahara was wrecked during the collapse of the Crdoba caliphate less than a
Century after it was built, it has now been partly reconstructed. From its imposing horseshoe
arches, exquisite stucco work and extensive gardens, its easy to see that it was a large and lavish
place.
Relatively few other buildings survive from the Omayyad era in Spain, but the little 1Othcentury mezquita in remote Almonaster la Real is one of the loveliest Islamic buildings in the
country. Though later converted into a church, the mosque remains more or less intact. Its like a
miniature Version of the Crdoba Mezquita, with rows of arches forming five naves, the central
one leading to a semi- circular mihrab.

ELEVENTH CENTURY PALACES

Most of the petty kings of the turbulent taifa (small kingdoms) period lived in palaces of some
kind, but only a few of these remain. The Alcazaba at Malaga, though rebuilt later, still has a
group of 11th century rooms with a caliphate-style row of horseshoe arches. Within Almerias
Alcazaba is the Palacio de Almotacin, constructed by the citys strengest taifa ruler.
11

House and Palaces of Andalusia by Patricia Espinosa De Los Monteros and Francesco Ventura
is a coffee-table tome fll of beautiful photography that just might inspire some design ideas for
yourown palace.

THE ALMORAVIDS & ALMOHADS

The rule of the Berber Almoravids from Morocco, from the late 11th to mid-12th centuries,
yielded few notable buildings in Spain, but the second wave of Moroccan Berbers to conquer AlAndalus, the Almohads, constructed huge Friday mosques in the main cities of their empire,
among them Seville. The design of the mosques was simple and purist, with large prayer halls
conforming to the T-plan of the Crdoba Mezquita, but the Almohads introduced some important
and beautiful decorative innovations. The bays where the naves meet the qibla wall were
surmounted by cupolas or stucco muqarnas (stalactite or honeycomb vaulting composed of
hundreds or thousands of tiny cells or niches). On walls, large brick panels with designs of
interwoven lozenges were created.

12

Three stages in the life of the Giralda: The left tower is the Almohad minaret (1198), with its
four gilded apples; the right tower, under Christian control (1400), is topped with a bell; the
center tower (1568) features the renaissance belfry of Hernan Ruiz.
From the late 12th Century, tall, Square, richly decorated minarets started to appear. The Giralda,
the minaret of the Seville mosque, is the masterpiece of surviving Almohad buildings in Spain,
with its beautiful brick panels. The Seville mosques prayer hall was demolished in the 15th
Century to make way for the citys cathedral, but its ablutions courtyard, Patio de los Naranjos ,
and its northern gate, the handsome Puerta del Perdn, survive.
Another Almohad mosque, more palace-chapel than large congregational affair, stands inside the
Alczar at Jerez de la Frontera. This tall, austere brick building is based on an unusual octagonal
plan inscribed within a Square.

13

Many rooms and patios in Sevilles Alczar palace-fortress date from Almohad times, but only
the Patio del Yeso, with its superbly delicate trelliswork of multiple interlocking arches, still has
substantial Almohad remains.
Muqarnas (honeycomb or stalactite vaulting) originated in Syria or Iran: the Almoravid mosque
at Tlemcen, Morocco, was the first western Islamic building to feature it.

THE NASRIDS
The Nasrid emirate of Granada, named after its founder, Mohammed ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr, was the
last Muslim redoubt on the Iberian Peninsula, enduring for two and a half centuries (1249-1492)
after all the rest of Spain had been taken by the Christians. The Nasrid rulers lavished most of
their art-and-architecture budget on one single palace complex of their very own but what a
palace complex it is.

The Alhambra
Granadas magnificent palace-fortress, the Alhambra, is the only surviving large medieval
Islamic palace complex in the world. Its a palace-city in the tradition of Medina Azahara but is
also a fortress, with 2km of walls, 23 towers and a fort-within-a-fort, the Alcazaba. Within the
Alhambras walls were seven separate palaces, mosques, garrisons, houses, offices, baths, a
summer residence (the Generalife) and exquisite gardens.

14

THE ALHAMBRA NORTH SIDE OF THE PATEO DEL AGUA, OR GREAT FOUNTAIN
FROM FROM THE BOOK ARABIAN ANTIQUITIES OF SPAIN BY MURPHY, JAMES
CAVANAH, 1760-1814 ,PUBLISHED IN 1816.
The Alhambras designers were supremely gifted landscape architects, integrating nature and
buildings through the use of pools, running water, meticulously clipped trees and bushes,
windows framing vistas, carefully placed lookout points, interplay between light and dark, and
contrasts between heat and cool. The juxtaposition of fountains, pools and gardens with domed
reception halls reached a degree of perfection suggestive of the paradise described in the Quran.
In keeping with the Alhambras partial role as a sybarites delight, many of its defensive towers
also functioned as miniature summer palaces.
A huge variety of densely ornamented arches adorns the Alhambra. The Nasrid architects refined
existing decorative techniques to new peaks of delicacy, elegance and harmony. Their media
included sculp- tured stucco, marble panels, carved and inlaid wood, epigraphy (with endlessly
repeated inscriptions of There is no conqueror but Allah) and colourful tiles. Plaited star
patterns in tile mosaic have since covered walls the length and breadth of the Islamic world, and
Nasrid Granada is the dominant artistic influence in the Maghreb (Northwest Africa) even today.
The marquetry ceiling of the Alhambras Salon de Comares employs more than 8000 tiny
wooden panels.
Granadas splendour reached its peak under emirs Yusuf I (r 1333-54) and Mohammed V (r
1354-59 and 1362-91). Each was responsible for one of the Alhambras two main palaces. Yusuf
15

created the Palacio de Comares (Comares Palace). The brilliant marquetry ceiling of the Saln de
Comares (Comares Hall) here, representing the seven levels of the Islamic heavens and capped
by a cupola representing the throne of Allah, served as the model for Islamic-style ceilings in
State rooms for centuries afterwards. Mohammed V takes credit for the Palacio de los Leones
(Palace of the Lions), focused on the famed Patio de los Leones (Patio of the Lions), with its
colonnaded gallery and pavilions and a central fountain channelling water through the mouths of
12 stone lions. This palaces Sala de Dos Hermanas (Hall of Two Sisters) features a fantastic
muqarnas dorne of 5000 tiny cells, recalling the constellations.

MUDEJAR & MOZARABIC ARCHITECTURE

The label Mudejar from Arabic mudayan (domesticated) was given to Muslims who stayed
on in areas reconquered by the Christians, who often employed the talents of gifted Muslim
artisans. Mudejar buildings are effectively part of Spains Islamic heritage. Youll find Mudejar
or part-Mudejar churches and monasteries all over Andalucia (Mudejar is often found side by
side with the Christian Gothic style), but the classic Mudejar building is the exotic Palacio de
Don Pedro, built in the 14th Century inside the Alczar of Seville for the Christian King Pedro I
of Castile. Pedros friend Mohammed V, the Muslim emir of Granada, sent many of his best
artisans to work on Pedros palace, and as a result the Palacio de Don Pedro is effectively a
Nasrid building, and one of the best of its kind especially the beautiful Patio de las Doncellas at
its heart, with a sunken garden surrounded by exquisite arches, tiling and plasterwork.
One hallmark of Mudejar style is geometric decorative designs in brick or stucco, often further
embellished with tiles. Elaborately carved timber ceilings are also a mark of the Mudejar hand.
Artesonado is the word used to describe ceilings with interlaced beams leaving regulr spaces for
decorative insertions. True Mudejar artesonados generally bear floral or simple geometric
patterns.
The term Mozarabic, from mustarib (Arabised), refers to Christians who lived, or had lived, in
Muslim-controlled territories in the Iberian Peninsula. Mozarabic architecture was,
unsurprisingly, much influenced by Islamic styles. It includes, for instance, the horseshoe arch.
The majority of Mozarabic architecture is found in northern Spain: the only significant
remaining Mozarabic structure in Andalucia but well worth seeking out for its picturesque
setting and poignant history is the rockcut church at Bobastro.

ISLAMIC FORTIFICATIONS
With its bordersconstantly underthreat and its subjects often rebellious, its hardlysurprising that
Al- Andalus boasts more islamic Castles and forts than any comparably sized territory in the
World.
16

Caliphate Era
The 10th Century saw heaps offorts built in Al-Andalus border regions, and many fortified garrisons constructed in the interior. Designs were fairly simple, with low, rectangular towers and
no outer rings of walls. Two of the finest caliphate-era forts are the oval one at Banos de la
Encina in Jaen province and the hilltop Alcazaba dominating Almeria.
Taifa Period
In this 11th-century era of internal strife, many towns bolstered their defences. A fine example is
Niebla in Huelva province, which was enclosed by walls with massive round and rectangular
towers. So was the Albayzin area of Granada. Nieblas gates show a new sophistication, with
barbicans (double towers defending the gates) and bends in their passageways to impede
attackers.
Almohad Fortifications
In the 12th and early 13th centuries the Almohads rebuilt many city defences, such as those at
Crdoba, Seville and Jerez de la Frontera. Crdobas Torre de la Calahorra and Sevilles Torre
del Oro are both well-constructed bridgehead towers from this era.
Nasrid Fortifications
Many defensive fortifications as at Antequera and Ronda, and Mlagas Castillo de Gibralfaro
were restored as the Granada emirate strove to survive in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. Big
rectangular corner towers such as those at Malaga and Antequera sug- gest the influence of the
Christian enemy. The most spectacular fort of the era though better known as a palace is
Granadas Alhambra.
Source of text: Andalucia 5th Edition, January 2007 (Lonely Planet). Images added by the
Islamic-Arts.org Team. The text has been imported through an image to text software and may
contain certain errors.

Islamic art
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

17

Detail of arabesque decoration at the Alhambra in Spain

The Ardabil Carpet, probably the finest surviving Persian carpet, Tabriz, mid-16th century

18

Play media
Some Islamic art featured at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the 7th century onward by people who
lived within the territory that was inhabited by or ruled by culturally Islamic populations.[1] It is
thus a very difficult art to define because it covers many lands and various peoples over some
1,400 years; it is not art specifically of a religion, or of a time, or of a place, or of a single
medium like painting.[2] The huge field of Islamic architecture is the subject of a separate article,
leaving fields as varied as calligraphy, painting, glass, pottery, and textile arts such as carpets
and embroidery.
Islamic art is not at all restricted to religious art, but includes all the art of the rich and varied
cultures of Islamic societies as well. It frequently includes secular elements and elements that are
frowned upon, if not forbidden, by some Islamic theologians.[3] Apart from the ever-present
calligraphic inscriptions, specifically religious art is actually less prominent in Islamic art than in
Western medieval art, with the exception of Islamic architecture where mosques and their
complexes of surrounding buildings are the most common remains. Figurative painting may
cover religious scenes, but normally in essentially secular contexts such as the walls of palaces or
illuminated books of poetry. The calligraphy and decoration of manuscript Qu'rans is an
important aspect, but other religious art such as glass mosque lamps and other mosque fittings
such as tiles (e.g. Girih tiles), woodwork and carpets usually have the same style and motifs as
contemporary secular art, although with religious inscriptions even more prominent.
"Islamic art developed from many sources: Roman, Early Christian art, and Byzantine styles
were taken over in early Islamic art and architecture; the influence of the Sassanian art of preIslamic Persia was of paramount significance; Central Asian styles were brought in with various
nomadic incursions; and Chinese influences had a formative effect on Islamic painting, pottery,
and textiles."[4] Though the whole concept of "Islamic art" has been criticised by some modern
art historians,[5] calling it a "figment of imagination"[6] or a "mirage",[7] the similarities between
art produced at widely different times and places in the Islamic world, especially in the Islamic
Golden Age, have been sufficient to keep the term in wide use by scholars.[8]
There are repeating elements in Islamic art, such as the use of geometrical floral or vegetal
designs in a repetition known as the arabesque. The arabesque in Islamic art is often used to
symbolize the transcendent, indivisible and infinite nature of God.[9] Mistakes in repetitions may
19

be intentionally introduced as a show of humility by artists who believe only God can produce
perfection, although this theory is disputed.[10][11][12]
Typically, though not entirely, Islamic art has focused on the depiction of patterns, whether
purely geometric or floral, and Arabic calligraphy, rather than on figures, because it is feared by
many Muslims that the depiction of the human form is idolatry[13] and thereby a sin against God,
forbidden in the Qur'an. Human portrayals can be found in all eras of Islamic art, above all in the
more private form of miniatures, where their absence is rare. Human representation for the
purpose of worship is considered idolatry and is duly forbidden in Islamic law, known as Sharia
law. There are also many depictions of Muhammad, Islam's chief prophet, in historical Islamic
art.[14][15] Small decorative figures of animals and humans, especially if they are hunting the
animals, are found on secular pieces in many media from many periods, but portraits were slow
to develop.

Calligraphy

Part of a 15th-century ceramic panel from Samarkand with arabesque background

Calligraphic design is omnipresent in Islamic art, where, as in Europe in the Middle Ages,
religious exhortations, including Qur'anic verses, may be included in secular objects, especially
coins, tiles and metalwork, and most painted miniatures include some script, as do many
buildings. Other inscriptions include verses of poetry, and inscriptions recording ownership or
donation. Two of the main scripts involved are the symbolic kufic and naskh scripts, which can
be found adorning and enhancing the visual appeal of the walls and domes of buildings, the sides
of minbars, and metalwork.[9] Islamic calligraphy in the form of painting or sculptures are
sometimes referred to as quranic art.[16]
East Persian pottery from the 9th to 11th centuries decorated only with highly stylised
inscriptions, called "epigraphic ware", has been described as "probably the most refined and
sensitive of all Persian pottery".[17] Large inscriptions made from tiles, sometimes with the letters
raised in relief, or the background cut away, are found on the interiors and exteriors of many
important buildings. Complex carved calligraphy also decorates buildings. For most of the
Islamic period the majority of coins only showed lettering, which are often very elegant despite
20

their small size and nature of production. The tughra or monogram of an Ottoman sultan was
used extensively on official documents, with very elaborate decoration for important ones. Other
single sheets of calligraphy, designed for albums, might contain short poems, Qu'ranic verses, or
other texts.
The main languages, all using Arabic script, are Arabic, always used for Qu'ranic verses, Persian
in the Persianate world, especially for poetry, and Turkish, with Urdu appearing in later
centuries. Calligraphers usually had a higher status than other artists.

Painting

Scene from the Khamsa of Nizami, Persian, 153943

Mughal miniature

Although there has been a tradition of wall-paintings, especially in the Persianate world, the bestsurviving and highest developed form of painting in the Islamic world is the miniature in
illuminated manuscripts, or later as a single page for inclusion in a muraqqa or bound album of
miniatures and calligraphy. The tradition of the Persian miniature has been dominant since about
the 13th century, strongly influencing the Ottoman miniature of Turkey and the Mughal
miniature in India. Miniatures were especially an art of the court, and because they were not seen
in public, it has been argued that constraints on the depiction of the human figure were much
more relaxed, and indeed miniatures often contain great numbers of small figures, and from the
16th century portraits of single ones. Although surviving early examples are now uncommon,
human figurative art was a continuous tradition in Islamic lands in secular contexts, notably
several of the Umayyad Desert Castles (c. 660-750), and during the Abbasid Caliphate (c. 749
1258).[18]

21

Hunters at a Stream - Riza `Abbasi, c.1625 Brooklyn Museum

The largest commissions of illustrated books were usually classics of Persian poetry such as the
epic Shahnameh, although the Mughals and Ottomans both produced lavish manuscripts of more
recent history with the autobiographies of the Mughal emperors, and more purely military
chronicles of Turkish conquests. Portraits of rulers developed in the 16th century, and later in
Persia, then becoming very popular. Mughal portraits, normally in profile, are very finely drawn
in a realist style, while the best Ottoman ones are vigorously stylized. Album miniatures
typically featured picnic scenes, portraits of individuals or (in India especially) animals, or
idealized youthful beauties of either sex.
Chinese influences included the early adoption of the vertical format natural to a book, which led
to the development of a birds-eye view where a very carefully depicted background of hilly
landscape or palace buildings rises up to leave only a small area of sky. The figures are arranged
in different planes on the background, with recession (distance from the viewer) indicated by
placing more distant figures higher up in the space, but at essentially the same size. The colours,
which are often very well preserved, are strongly contrasting, bright and clear. The tradition
reached a climax in the 16th and early 17th centuries, but continued until the early 19th century,
and has been revived in the 20th.

22

Rugs and carpets

From the yarn fiber to the colors, every part of the Persian rug is traditionally handmade from natural
ingredients over the course of many months

Carpet Tree of Life

No Islamic artistic product has become better known outside the Islamic world than the pile
carpet, more commonly referred to as the Oriental carpet (oriental rug). Their versatility is
utilized in everyday Islamic and Muslim life, from floor coverings to architectural enrichment,
from cushions to bolsters to bags and sacks of all shapes and sizes, and to religious objects (such
as a prayer rug, which would provide a clean place to pray). They have been a major export to
other areas since the late Middle Ages, used to cover not only floors but tables, for long a
widespread European practice that is now common only in the Netherlands. Carpet weaving is a
rich and deeply embedded tradition in Islamic societies, and the practice is seen in large city
factories as well as in rural communities and nomadic encampments. In earlier periods, special
establishments and workshops were in existence that functioned directly under court
patronage.[19]

23

Turkish Ushak carpet

Very early Islamic carpets, i.e. those before the 16th century, are extremely rare. More have
survived in the West and oriental carpets in Renaissance painting from Europe are a major
source of information on them, as they were valuable imports that were painted accurately.[20]
The most natural and easy designs for a carpet weaver to produce consist of straight lines and
edges, and the earliest Islamic carpets to survive or be shown in paintings have geometric
designs, or centre on very stylized animals, made up in this way. Since the flowing loops and
curves of the arabesque are central to Islamic art, the interaction and tension between these two
styles was long a major feature of carpet design.
There are a few survivals of the grand Egyptian 16th century carpets, including one almost as
good as new discovered in the attic of the Pitti Palace in Florence, whose complex patterns of
octagon roundels and stars, in just a few colours, shimmer before the viewer.[21] Production of
this style of carpet began under the Mamluks but continued after the Ottomans conquered
Egypt.[22] The other sophisticated tradition was the Persian carpet which reached its peak in the
16th and early 17th century in works like the Ardabil Carpet and Coronation Carpet; during this
century the Ottoman and Mughal courts also began to sponsor the making in their domains of
large formal carpets, evidently with the involvement of designers used to the latest court style in
the general Persian tradition. These use a design style shared with non-figurative Islamic
illumination and other media, often with a large central gul motif, and always with wide and
strongly demarcated borders. The grand designs of the workshops patronized by the court spread
out to smaller carpets for the merely wealthy and for export, and designs close to those of the
16th and 17th centuries are still produced in large numbers today. The description of older
carpets has tended to use the names of carpet-making centres as labels, but often derived from
the design rather than any actual evidence that they originated from around that centre. Research
has clarified that designs were by no means always restricted to the centre they are traditionally
associated with, and the origin of many carpets remains unclear.
As well as the major Persian, Turkish and Arab centres, carpets were also made across Central
Asia, in India, and in Spain and the Balkans. Spanish carpets, which sometimes interrupted
typical Islamic patterns to include coats of arms, enjoyed high prestige in Europe, being
24

commissioned by royalty and for the Papal Palace, Avignon, and the industry continued after the
Reconquista.[23] Armenian carpet-weaving is mentioned by many early sources, and may account
for a much larger proportion of East Turkish and Caucasian production than traditionally
thought. The Berber carpets of North Africa have a distinct design tradition. Apart from the
products of city workshops, in touch with trading networks that might carry the carpets to
markets far away, there was also a large and widespread village and nomadic industry producing
work that stayed closer to traditional local designs. As well as pile carpets, kelims and other
types of flat-weave or embroidered textiles were produced, for use on both floors and walls.
Figurative designs, sometimes with large human figures, are very popular in Islamic countries
but relatively rarely exported to the West, where abstract designs are generally what the market
expects.

Ceramics

10th-century dish from East Persia

Islamic art has very notable achievements in ceramics, both in pottery and tiles for walls, which
in the absence of wall-paintings were taken to heights unmatched by other cultures. Early pottery
is often unglazed, but tin-opacified glazing was one of the earliest new technologies developed
by the Islamic potters. The first Islamic opaque glazes can be found as blue-painted ware in
Basra, dating to around the 8th century. Another significant contribution was the development of
stonepaste ceramics, originating from 9th century Iraq.[24] The first industrial complex for glass
and pottery production was built in Ar-Raqqah, Syria, in the 8th century.[25] Other centers for
innovative pottery in the Islamic world included Fustat (from 975 to 1075), Damascus (from
1100 to around 1600) and Tabriz (from 1470 to 1550).[26] Lusterwares with iridescent colours
may have continued pre-Islamic Roman and Byzantine techniques, but were either invented or
considerably developed on pottery and glass in Persia and Syria from the 9th century onwards.[27]
Islamic pottery was often influenced by Chinese ceramics, whose achievements were greatly
admired and emulated.[28] This was especially the case in the periods after the Mongol invasions
and those of the Timurids. Techniques, shapes and decorative motifs were all affected. Until the
Early Modern period Western ceramics had very little influence, but Islamic pottery was very
sought after in Europe, and often copied. An example of this is the albarello, a type of maiolica
earthenware jar originally designed to hold apothecaries' ointments and dry drugs. The
25

development of this type of pharmacy jar had its roots in the Islamic Middle East. HispanoMoresque examples were exported to Italy, stimulating the earliest Italian examples, from 15th
century Florence.

Iznik glazed pottery ca. 1575

The Hispano-Moresque style emerged in Al-Andaluz or Muslim Spain in the 8th century, under
Egyptian influence, but most of the best production was much later, by potters presumed to have
been largely Muslim but working in areas reconquered by the Christian kingdoms. It mixed
Islamic and European elements in its designs, and much was exported across neighbouring
European countries. It had introduced two ceramic techniques to Europe: glazing with an opaque
white tin-glaze, and painting in metallic lusters. Ottoman znik pottery produced most of the best
work in the 16th century, in tiles and large vessels boldly decorated with floral motifs influenced,
once again, by Chinese Yuan and Ming ceramics. These were still in earthenware; there was no
porcelain made in Islamic countries until modern times, though Chinese porcelain was imported
and admired.[29]
The medieval Islamic world also had pottery with painted animal and human imagery. Examples
are found throughout the medieval Islamic world, particularly in Persia and Egypt.[30]

Tiling

Tiled exterior of the Friday Mosque of Herat, Afghanistan

26

The earliest grand Islamic buildings, like the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem had interior walls
decorated with mosaics in the Byzantine style, but without human figures. From the 9th century
onwards the distinctive Islamic tradition of glazed and brightly coloured tiling for interior and
exterior walls and domes developed. Some earlier schemes create designs using mixtures of tiles
each of a single colour that are either cut to shape or are small and of a few shapes, used to create
abstract geometric patterns. Later large painted schemes use tiles painted before firing with a part
of the scheme a technique requiring confidence in the consistent results of firing.
Some elements, especially the letters of inscriptions, may be moulded in three-dimensional
relief, and in especially in Persia certain tiles in a design may have figurative painting of animals
or single human figures. These were often part of designs mostly made up of tiles in plain
colours but with larger fully painted tiles at intervals. The larger tiles are often shaped as eightpointed stars, and may show animals or a human head or bust, or plant or other motifs. The
geometric patterns, such as modern North African zellige work, made of small tiles each of a
single colour but different and regular shapes, are often referred to as "mosaic", which is not
strictly correct.
The Mughals made much less use of tiling, preferring (and being able to afford) "parchin kari", a
type of pietra dura decoration from inlaid panels of semi-precious stones, with jewels in some
cases. This can be seen at the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and other imperial commissions. The motifs
are usually floral, in a simpler and more realistic style than Persian or Turkish work, relating to
plants in Mughal miniatures.

Glass

"The Luck of Edenhall", a 13th-century Syrian beaker, in England since the Middle Ages

For most of the Middle Ages Islamic glass was the most sophisticated in Eurasia, exported to
both Europe and China. Islam took over much of the traditional glass-producing territory of
Sassanian and Ancient Roman glass, and since figurative decoration played a small part in preIslamic glass, the change in style is not abrupt, except that the whole area initially formed a
political whole, and, for example, Persian innovations were now almost immediately taken up in
27

Egypt. For this reason it is often impossible to distinguish between the various centres of
production, of which Egypt, Syria and Persia were the most important, except by scientific
analysis of the material, which itself has difficulties.[31] From various documentary references
glassmaking and glass trading seems to have been a speciality of the Jewish minority in several
centres.[32]

Mamluk mosque lamp

Between the 8th and early 11th centuries the emphasis in luxury glass is on effects achieved by
"manipulating the surface" of the glass, initially by incising into the glass on a wheel, and later
by cutting away the background to leave a design in relief.[33] The very massive Hedwig glasses,
only found in Europe, but normally considered Islamic (or possibly from Muslim craftsmen in
Norman Sicily), are an example of this, though puzzlingly late in date.[34] These and other glass
pieces probably represented cheaper versions of vessels of carved rock crystal (clear quartz),
themselves influenced by earlier glass vessels,[35] and there is some evidence that at this period
glass cutting and hardstone carving were regarded as the same craft.[36] From the 12th century the
industry in Persia and Mesopotamia appears to decline, and the main production of luxury glass
shifts to Egypt and Syria, and decorative effects of colour on smooth surfaced glass.[37]
Throughout the period local centres made simpler wares such as Hebron glass in Palestine.
Lustre painting, by techniques similar to lustreware in pottery, dates back to the 8th century in
Egypt, and became widespread in the 12th century. Another technique was decoration with
threads of glass of a different colour, worked into the main surface, and sometimes manipulated
by combing and other effects. Gilded, painted and enamelled glass were added to the repertoire,
and shapes and motifs borrowed from other media, such as pottery and metalwork. Some of the
finest work was in mosque lamps donated by a ruler or wealthy man. As decoration grew more
elaborate, the quality of the basic glass decreased, and it "often has a brownish-yellow tinge, and
is rarely free from bubbles".[38] Aleppo seems to have ceased to be a major centre after the
Mongol invasion of 1260, and Timur appears to have ended the Syrian industry about 1400 by
28

carrying off the skilled workers to Samarkand. By about 1500 the Venetians were receiving large
orders for mosque lamps.[39]

Metalwork

Detail of the "Baptistre de Saint-Louis," c. 1300, a Mamluk basin of engraved brass with gold, silver and
niello inlay

Medieval Islamic metalwork offers a complete contrast to its European equivalent, which is
dominated by modelled figures and brightly coloured decoration in enamel, some pieces entirely
in precious metals. In contrast surviving Islamic metalwork consists of practical objects mostly
in brass, bronze, and steel, with simple, but often monumental, shapes, and surfaces highly
decorated with dense decoration in a variety of techniques, but colour mostly restricted to inlays
of gold, silver, copper or black niello. The most abundant survivals from medieval periods are
fine brass objects, handsome enough to preserve, but not valuable enough to be melted down.
The abundant local sources of zinc compared to tin explains the rarity of bronze. Household
items, such as ewers or water pitchers, were made of one or more pieces of sheet brass soldered
together and subsequently worked and inlaid.[40]
The use of drinking and eating vessels in gold and silver, the ideal in ancient Rome and Persia as
well as medieval Christian societies, is prohibited by the Hadiths, as was the wearing of gold
rings.[41] One thing Islamic metalworkers shared with European ones was high social status
compared to other artists and craftsmen, and many larger pieces are signed.
Islamic work includes some three-dimensional animal figures as fountainheads or aquamaniles,
but only one significant enamelled object is known, using Byzantine cloisonne techniques.[42]
The Pisa Griffin is the largest surviving bronze animal, probably from 11th century Al-Andaluz.
More common objects given elaborate decoration include massive low candlesticks and lampstands, lantern lights, bowls, dishes, basins, buckets (these probably for the bath),[43] and ewers,
as well as caskets, pen-cases and plaques. Ewers and basins were brought for hand-washing
before and after each meal, so are often lavishly treated display pieces. A typical 13th century
ewer from Khorasan is decorated with foliage, animals and the Signs of the Zodiac in silver and
copper, and carries a blessing.[44] Specialized objects include knives, arms and armour (always of
huge interest to the elite) and scientific instruments such as astrolabes, as well as jewellery.
Decoration is typically densely packed and very often includes arabesques and calligraphy,
sometimes naming an owner and giving a date.[45]
29

Other applied arts

Mughal dagger with hilt in jade, gold, rubies and emeralds. Blade of damascened steel inlaid with gold.

High levels of achievement were reached in other materials, including hardstone carvings and
jewellery, ivory carving, textiles and leatherwork. During the Middle Ages, Islamic work in
these fields was highly valued in other parts of the world and often traded outside the Islamic
zone. Apart from miniature painting and calligraphy, other arts of the book are decorative
illumination, the only type found in Qu'ran manuscripts, and Islamic book covers, which are
often highly decorative in luxury manuscripts, using either the geometric motifs found in
illumination, or sometimes figurative images probably drawn for the craftsmen by miniature
painters. Materials include coloured, tooled and stamped leather and lacquer over paint.[46]

Precious stones
Egyptian carving of rock crystal into vessels appears in the late 10th century, and virtually
disappears after about 1040. There are a number of these vessels in the West, which apparently
came on the market after the Cairo palace of the Fatimid Caliph was looted by his mercenaries in
1062, and were snapped up by European buyers, mostly ending up in church treasuries.[47] From
later periods, especially the hugely wealthy Ottoman and Mughal courts, there are a considerable
number of lavish objects carved in semi-precious stones, with little surface decoration, but inset
with jewels. Such objects may have been made in earlier periods, but few have survived.[48]

30

House and furniture

Ottoman marquetry and tile-top table, about 1560

Older wood carving is typically relief or pierced work on flat objects for architectural use, such
as screens, doors, roofs, beams and friezes. An important exception are the complex muqarnas
and mocrabe designs giving roofs and other architectural elements a stalactite-like appearance.
These are often in wood, sometimes painted on the wood but often plastered over before
painting; the examples at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain are among the best known. Traditional
Islamic furniture, except for chests, tended to be covered with cushions, with cupboards rather
than cabinets for storage, but there are some pieces, including a low round (strictly twelve-sided)
table of about 1560 from the Ottoman court, with marquetry inlays in light wood, and a single
huge ceramic tile or plaque on the tabletop.[49] The fine inlays typical of Ottoman court furniture
may have developed from styles and techniques used in weapons and musical instruments, for
which the finest craftsmanship available was used.[50] There are also intricately decorated caskets
and chests from various periods. A spectacular and famous (and far from flat) roof was one of
the Islamic components of the 12th century Norman Cappella Palatina in Palermo, which picked
from the finest elements of Catholic, Byzantine and Islamic art. Other famous wooden roofs are
in the Alhambra in Granada.

Ivory

Ivory with traces of paint, 11th12th century, Egypt

31

Ivory carving centred on the Mediterranean, spreading from Egypt, where a thriving Coptic
industry had been inherited; Persian ivory is rare. The normal style was a deep relief with an
even surface; some pieces were painted. Spain specialized in caskets and round boxes, which
were probably used to keep jewels and perfumes. They were produced mainly in the approximate
period 9301050, and widely exported. Many pieces are signed and dated, and on court pieces
the name of the owner is often inscribed; they were typically gifts from a ruler. As well as a court
workshop, Cordoba had commercial workshops producing goods of slightly lower quality. In the
12th and 13th century workshops in Norman Sicily produced caskets, apparently then migrating
to Granada and elsewhere after persecution. Egyptian work tended to be in flat panels and
friezes, for insertion into woodwork and probably furniture most are now detached from their
settings. Many were calligraphic, and others continued Byzantine traditions of hunting scenes,
with backgrounds of arabesques and foliage in both cases.[51]

Ilkhanid piece in silk, cotton and gold, Iran or Iraq, early 14th century

Silk
Despite Hadithic sayings against the wearing of silk, the Byzantine and Sassanian traditions of
grand figured silk woven cloth continued under Islam. Some designs are calligraphic, especially
when made for palls to cover a tomb, but more are surprisingly conservative versions of the
earlier traditions, with many large figures of animals, especially majestic symbols of power like
the lion and eagle. These are often enclosed in roundels, as found in the pre-Islamic traditions.
The majority of early silks have been recovered from tombs, and in Europe reliquaries, where the
relics were often wrapped in silk. European clergy and nobility were keen buyers of Islamic silk
from an early date and, for example, the body of an early bishop of Toul in France was wrapped
in a silk from the Bukhara area in modern Uzbekistan, probably when the body was reburied in
820.[52] The Shroud of St Josse is a famous samite cloth from East Persia, which originally had a
carpet-like design with two pairs of confronted elephants, surrounded by borders including rows
of camels and an inscription in Kufic script, from which the date appears to be before 961.[53]
Other silks were used for clothes, hangings, altarcloths, and church vestments, which have nearly
all been lost, except for some vestments.

32

Javanese court batik

Ottoman silks were less exported, and the many surviving royal kaftans have simpler geometric
patterns, many featuring stylized "tiger-stripes" below three balls or circles. Other silks have
foliage designs comparable to those on Iznik pottery or carpets, with bands forming ogival
compartments a popular motif. Some designs begin to show Italian influence. By the 16th
century Persian silk was using smaller patterns, many of which showed relaxed garden scenes of
beautiful boys and girls from the same world as those in contemporary album miniatures, and
sometimes identifiable scenes from Persian poetry. A 16th-century circular ceiling for a tent,
97 cm across, shows a continuous and crowded hunting scene; it was apparently looted by the
army of Suleiman the Magnificent in his invasion of Persia in 154345, before being taken by a
Polish general at the Siege of Vienna in 1683. Mughal silks incorporate many Indian elements,
and often feature relatively realistic "portraits" of plants, as found in other media.[54]

Indonesian Batik
The development and refinement of Indonesian batik cloth was closely linked to Islam. The
Islamic prohibition on certain images encouraged batik design to become more abstract and
intricate. Realistic depictions of animals and humans are rare on traditional batik. However,
mythical serpents, humans with exaggerated features and the Garuda of pre-Islamic mythology
are common motifs.
Although its existence pre-dates Islam, batik reached its zenith in royal Muslim courts such as
Mataram and Yogyakarta, whose sultans encouraged and patronised batik production. Today,
batik is undergoing a revival, and cloths are used for additional purposes such as wrapping the
Quran.

History of Islamic art

Beginnings
33

Pre-dynastic

Palace facade from Mshatta in Jordan, now in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin, c. ?740

The period of a rapid expansion of the Islamic era forms a reasonably accurate beginning for the
label of Islamic art. Early geographical boundaries of the Islamic culture were in present-day
Syria. It is quite difficult to distinguish the earliest Islamic objects from their predecessors in
Persian or Sassanid and Byzantine art, and the conversion of the mass of the population,
including artists, took a significant period, sometimes centuries, after the initial Muslim
conquest. There was, notably, a significant production of unglazed ceramics, witnessed by a
famous small bowl preserved in the Louvre, whose inscription assures its attribution to the
Islamic period. Plant motifs were the most important in these early productions.
Influences from the Sassanian artistic tradition include the image of the king as a warrior and the
lion as a symbol of nobility and virility. Bedouin tribal traditions mixed with the more
sophisticated styles of the conquered territories. For an initial period coins had human figures in
the Byzantine and Sassanian style, perhaps to reassure users of their continued value, before the
Islamic style with lettering only took over.
Umayyad

Mosaics from the riwaq (portico) of the Great Mosque of Damascus

Religious and civic architecture were developed under the Umayyad dynasty (661-750), when
new concepts and new plans were put into practice.
34

The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is one of the most important buildings in all of Islamic
architecture, marked by a strong Byzantine influence (mosaic against a gold background, and a
central plan that recalls that of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre), but already bearing purely
Islamic elements, such as the great epigraphic frieze. The desert palaces in Jordan and Syria (for
example, Mshatta, Qasr Amra, and Khirbat al-Mafjar) served the caliphs as living quarters,
reception halls, and baths, and were decorated, including some wall-paintings, to promote an
image of royal luxury.
Work in ceramics was still somewhat primitive (unglazed) during this period. Some metal
objects have survived from this time, but it remains rather difficult to distinguish these objects
from those of the pre-Islamic period.
'Abd al-Malik introduced standard coinage that featured Arabic inscriptions, instead of images of
the monarch. The quick development of a localized coinage around the time of the Dome of the
Rock's construction demonstrates the reorientation of Umayyad acculturation. This period saw
the genesis of a particularly Islamic art.
In this period, Umayyad artists and artisans did not invent a new vocabulary, but began to prefer
those received from Mediterranean and Iranian late antiquity, which they adapted to their own
artistic conceptions. For example, the mosaics in the Great Mosque of Damascus are based on
Byzantine models, but replace the figurative elements with images of trees and cities. The desert
palaces also bear witness to these influences. By combining the various traditions that they had
inherited, and by readapting motifs and architectural elements, artists created little by little a
typically Muslim art, particularly discernible in the aesthetic of the arabesque, which appears
both on monuments and in illuminated Qur'ns.
Abbasid

Lusterware bowl from Susa, 9th century, today in the Louvre

The Abbasid dynasty (750 AD- 1258[55]) witnessed the movement of the capital from Damascus
to Baghdad, and then from Baghdad to Samarra. The shift to Baghdad influenced politics,
culture, and art. Art historian Robert Hillenbrand (1999) likens the movement to the foundation
of an "Islamic Rome", because the meeting of Eastern influences from Iranian, Eurasian steppe,
35

Chinese, and Indian sources created a new paradigm for Islamic art. Classical forms inherited
from Byzantine Europe and Greco-Roman sources were discarded in favor of those drawn from
the new Islamic hub. Even the design of the city of Baghdad placed it in the "navel of the world,"
as 9th-century historian al-Ya'qubi wrote.[56]
The ancient city of Baghdad cannot be excavated well, as it lies beneath the modern city.
However, Abbasid Samarra, which was largely abandoned, has been well studied, and is known
for its surviving examples of stucco reliefs, in which the prehistory of the arabesque can be
traced. Motifs known from the stucco at Samarra permit the dating of structures built elsewhere,
and are furthermore found on portable objects, particular in wood, from Egypt through to Iran.
Samarra witnessed the "coming of age" of Islamic art. Polychrome painted stucco allowed for
experimentation in new styles of moulding and carving. The Abbasid period also coincided with
two major innovations in the ceramic arts: the invention of faience, and of metallic lusterware.
Hadithic prohibition of the use of golden or silver vessels led to the development of metallic
lusterware in pottery, which was made by mixing sulphur and metallic oxides to ochre and
vinegar, painted onto an already glazed vessel and then fired a second time. It was expensive,
and difficult to manage the second round through the kiln, but the wish to exceed fine Chinese
porcelain led to the development of this technique.[57]

Tiraz Textile Fragment, 946-974 Brooklyn Museum

Though the common perception of Abbasid artistic production focuses largely on pottery, the
greatest development of the Abbasid period was in textiles. Government-run workshops known
as tiraz produced silks bearing the name of the monarch, allowing for aristocrats to demonstrate
their loyalty to the ruler. Other silks were pictorial. The utility of silk-ware in wall decor,
entrance adornment, and room separation was not as important as its cash value along the "silk
route".
Calligraphy began to be used in surface decoration on pottery during this period. Illuminated
Qur'ans gained attention, letter-forms now more complex and stylized to the point of slowing
down the recognition of the words themselves.[58]

Medieval period (9th15th centuries)

Beginning in the 9th century, Abbasid sovereignty was contested in the provinces furthest
removed from the Iraqi center. The creation of a Shi'a dynasty, that of the north African
Fatimids, followed by the Umayyads in Spain, gave force to this opposition, as well as small
dynasties and autonomous governors in Iran.

36

Spain and the Maghreb

Morocco Fez Embroidery Horse Cover

Pyxis of al-Mughira, Madinat al-Zahra, Spain, 968

The first Islamic dynasty to establish itself in Spain (or al-Andalus) was that of the Spanish
Umayyads. As their name indicates, they were descended from the great Umayyads of Syria.
After their fall, the Spanish Umayyads were replaced by various autonomous kingdoms, the
taifas (103191), but the artistic production from this period does not differ significantly from
that of the Umayyads. At the end of the 11th century, two Berber tribes, the Almoravids and the
Almohads, captured the head of the Maghreb and Spain, successively, bringing Maghrebi
influences into art. A series of military victories by Christian monarchs had reduced Islamic
Spain by the end of the 14th century to the city of Granada, ruled by the Nasirid dynasty, who
managed to maintain their hold until 1492.
Al-Andalus was a great cultural center of the Middle Ages. Besides the great universities, which
taught philosophies and sciences yet unknown in Christendom (such as those of Averroes), the
territory was an equally vital center for art.
37

Many techniques were employed in the manufacture of objects. Ivory was used extensively for
the manufacture of boxes and caskets. The pyxis of al-Mughira is a masterwork of the genre. In
metalwork, large sculptures in the round, normally rather scarce in the Islamic world, served as
elaborate receptacles for water or as fountain spouts. A great number of textiles, most notably
silks, were exported: many are found in the church treasuries of Christendom, where they served
as covering for saints reliquaries. From the periods of Maghrebi rule one may also note a taste
for painted and sculpted woodwork.
The art of north Africa is not as well studied. The Almoravid and Almohad dynasties are
characterized by a tendency toward austerity, for example in mosques with bare walls.
Nevertheless, luxury arts continued to be produced in great quantity. The Marinid and Hafsid
dynasties developed an important, but poorly understood, architecture, and a significant amount
of painted and sculpted woodwork.
Arab Mashriq
The Fatamid dynasty, which reigned in Egypt from 909 and 1171 introduced crafts and
knowledge from politically troubled Baghdad to Cairo.
By the year 1070, the Seljuks emerged as the dominant political force in the Muslim world after
they liberated Baghdad and defeated the Byzanties at Manzikert, during the rule of Malik Shah
the Seljuks excelled in architecture at the same time in Syria, the atabegs (governors of Seljuk
princes) assumed power. Quite independent, they capitalized on conflicts with the Frankish
crusaders. In 1171, Saladin seized Fatimid Egypt, and installed the transitory Ayyubid dynasty
on the throne. This period is notable for innovations in metallurgy and the widespread
manufacture of the Damascus steel swords and daggers and the production ceramics, glass and
metalwork of a high quality were produced without interruption, and enameled glass became
another important craft.
In 1250, the Mamluks seized control of Egypt from the Ayyubids, and by 1261 had managed to
assert themselves in Syria as well their most famous ruler was Baibars. The Mamluks were not,
strictly speaking, a dynasty, as they did not maintain a patrilineal mode of succession; in fact,
Mamluks were freed Turkish and Caucasian slaves, who (in theory) passed the power to others
of like station. This mode of government persevered for three centuries, until 1517, and gave rise
to abundant architectural projects (many thousands of buildings were constructed during this
period), while patronage of luxury arts favored primarily enameled glass and metalwork, and is
remembered as the golden age of medieval Egypt. The "Baptistre de Saint-Louis" in the Louvre
is an example of the very high quality of metalwork at this period.

38

Iran and Central Asia

Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, built by Timur in 1399

In Iran and the north of India, the Tahirids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, and Ghurids struggled for
power in the 10th century, and art was a vital element of this competition. Great cities were built,
such as Nishapur and Ghazni, and the construction of the Great Mosque of Isfahan (which would
continue, in fits and starts, over several centuries) was initiated. Funerary architecture was also
cultivated, while potters developed quite individual styles: kaleidoscopic ornament on a yellow
ground; or marbled decorations created by allowing colored glazes to run; or painting with
multiple layers of slip under the glaze.
The Seljuqs, nomads of Turkic origin from present-day Mongolia, appeared on the stage of
Islamic history toward the end of the 10th century. They seized Baghdad in 1048, before dying
out in 1194 in Iran, although the production of Seljuq works continued through the end of the
12th and beginning of the 13th century under the auspices of smaller, independent sovereigns
and patrons. During their time, the center of culture, politics and art production shifted from
Damascus and Baghdad to Merv, Nishapur, Rayy, and Isfahan, all in Iran.[59]
Popular patronage expanded because of a growing economy and new urban wealth. Inscriptions
in architecture tended to focus more on the patrons of the piece. For example, sultans, viziers or
lower ranking officials would receive often mention in inscriptions on mosques. Meanwhile,
growth in mass market production and sale of art made it more commonplace and accessible to
merchants and professionals.[60] Because of increased production, many relics have survived
from the Seljuk era and can be easily dated. In contrast, the dating of earlier works is more
39

ambiguous. It is, therefore, easy to mistake Seljuk art as new developments rather than
inheritance from classical Iranian and Turkic sources.[61]
Innovations in ceramics from this period include the production of minai ware and the
manufacture of vessels, not out of clay, but out of a silicon paste (fritware), while
metalworkers began to encrust bronze with precious metals. Across the Seljuk era, from Iran to
Iraq, a unification of book painting can be seen. These paintings have animalistic figures that
convey strong symbolic meaning of fidelity, treachery, and courage.[62]
During the 13th century, the Mongols under the leadership of Genghis Khan swept through the
Islamic world. After his death, his empire was divided among his sons, forming many dynasties:
the Yuan in China, the Ilkhanids in Iran and the Golden Horde in northern Iran and southern
Russia.
Ilkhanids

A rich civilization developed under these little khans, who were originally subservient to the
Yuan emperor, but rapidly became independent. Architectural activity intensified as the Mongols
became sedentary, and retained traces of their nomadic origins, such as the north-south
orientation of the buildings. At the same time a process of iranisation took place, and
construction according to previously established types, such as the Iranian plan mosques, was
resumed. The art of the Persian book was also born under this dynasty, and was encouraged by
aristocratic patronage of large manuscripts such as the Jami' al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din
Hamadani. New techniques in ceramics appeared, such as the lajvardina (a variation on lusterware), and Chinese influence is perceptible in all arts.
The Golden Horde and the Timurids

The early arts of the nomads of the Golden Horde are poorly understood. Research is only
beginning, and evidence for town planning and architecture has been discovered. There was also
a significant production of works in gold, which often show a strong Chinese influence. Much of
this work is preserved today in the Hermitage.
The beginning of the third great period of medieval Iranian art, that of the Timurids, was marked
by the invasion of a third group of nomads, under the direction of Timur. During the 15th
century this dynasty gave rise to a golden age in Persian manuscript painting, including
renowned painters such as Kaml ud-Dn Behzd, but also a multitude of workshops and patrons.
Syria, Iraq, Anatolia

40

ifte Minareli Medrese in Erzurum. Before 1265

The Seljuq Turks pushed beyond Iran into Anatolia, winning a victory over the Byzantine
Empire in the Battle of Manzikert (1071), and setting up a sultanate independent of the Iranian
branch of the dynasty. Their power seems largely to have waned following the Mongol invasions
in 1243, but coins were struck under their name until 1304. Architecture and objects synthesized
various styles, both Iranian and Syrian, sometimes rendering precise attributions difficult. The art
of woodworking was cultivated, and at least one illustrated manuscript dates to this period.
Caravanserais dotted the major trade routes across the region, placed at intervals of a day's travel.
The construction of these caravanserai inns improved in scale, fortification, and replicability.
Also, they began to contain central mosques.
The Turkmen were nomads who settled in the area of Lake Van. They were responsible for a
number of mosques, such as the Blue Mosque in Tabriz, and they had a decisive influence after
the fall of the Anatolian Seljuqs. Starting in the 13th century, Anatolia was dominated by small
Turkmen dynasties, which progressively chipped away at Byzantine territory. Little by little a
major dynasty emerged, that of the Ottomans, who, after 1450, are referred to as the "first
Ottomans". Turkmen artworks can be seen as the forerunners of Ottoman art, in particular the
"Milet" ceramics and the first blue-and-white Anatolian works.
Islamic book painting witnessed its first golden age in the thirteenth century, mostly from Syria
and Iraq. Influence from Byzantine visual vocabulary (blue and gold coloring, angelic and
victorious motifs, symbology of drapery) combined with Mongoloid facial types in 12th-century
book frontispieces.
Earlier coinage necessarily featured Arabic epigraphs, but as Ayyubid society became more
cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic, coinage began to feature astrological, figural (featuring a variety
of Greek, Seleucid, Byzantine, Sasanian, and contemporary Turkish rulers' busts), and animal
images.
Hillenbrand suggests that the medieval Islamic texts called Maqamat, copied and illustrated by
Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti were some of the earliest "coffee table books." They were among
41

the first texts to hold up a mirror to daily life in Islamic art, portraying humorous stories and
showing little to no inheritance of pictorial tradition.[63]
South Asia

Mughal Arabesque inlays at the Agra Fort

The Indian subcontinent, some northern parts of which conquered by the Ghaznavids and
Ghurids in the 9th century, did not become autonomous until 1206, when the Muizzi, or slavekings, seized power, marking the birth of the Delhi Sultanate. Later other competing sultanates
were founded in Bengal, Kashmir, Gujarat, Jaunpur, Malwa, and in the north Deccan (the
Bahmanids). They separated themselves little by little from Persian traditions, giving birth to an
original approach to architecture and urbanism, marked in particular by interaction with Hindu
art. Study of the production of objects has hardly begun, but a lively art of manuscript
illumination is known. The period of the sultanates ended with the arrival of the Mughals, who
progressively seized their territories.

The Three Empires

Ottomans

16th century znik pottery

42

The Ottoman Empire, whose origins lie in the 14th century, continued in existence until shortly
after World War I. This impressive longevity, combined with an immense territory (stretching
from Anatolia to Tunisia), led naturally to a vital and distinctive art, including plentiful
architecture, mass production of ceramics for both tiles and vessels, most notably Iznik ware,
important metalwork and jewellery, Turkish paper marbling Ebru, Turkish carpets as well as
tapestries and exceptional Ottoman miniatures and decorative Ottoman illumination.
Masterpieces of Ottoman manuscript illustration include the two "books of festivals" (Surname-I
Hmayun), one dating from the end of the 16th century, and the other from the era of Sultan
Murad III. These books contain numerous illustrations and exhibit a strong Safavid influence;
thus they may have been inspired by books captured in the course of the Ottoman-Safavid wars
of the 16th century.
The Ottomans are also known for their development of a bright red pigment, "Iznik red", in
ceramics, which reached their height in the 16th century, both in tile-work and pottery, using
floral motifs that were considerably transformed from their Chinese and Persian models. From
the 18th century, Ottoman art came under considerable European influence, the Turks adopting
versions of Rococo which had a lasting and not very beneficial effect, leading to over-fussy
decoration.
Mughals

An illustrated manuscript of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan attending the marriage procession of his
eldest son Dara Shikoh. Mughal-Era fireworks brightened the night throughout the wedding ceremony.

43

The Mughal Empire in India lasted from 1526 until (technically) 1858, although from the late
17th century power flowed away from the emperors to local rulers, and later European powers,
above all the British Raj, who were the main power in India by the late 18th century. The period
is most notable for luxury arts of the court, and Mughal styles heavily influenced local Hindu
and later Sikh rulers as well. The Mughal miniature began by importing Persian artists,
especially a group brought back by Humayun when in exile in Safavid Persia, but soon local
artists, many Hindu, were trained in the style. Realistic portraiture, and images of animals and
plants, was developed in Mughal art beyond what the Persians had so far achieved, and the size
of miniatures increased, sometimes onto canvas. The Mughal court had access to European prints
and other art, and these had increasing influence, shown in the gradual introduction of aspects of
Western graphical perspective, and a wider range of poses in the human figure. Some Western
images were directly copied or borrowed from. As the courts of local Nawabs developed, distinct
provincial styles with stronger influence from traditional Indian painting developed in both
Muslim and Hindu princely courts.
The arts of jewelry and hardstone carving of gemstones, such as jasper, jade, adorned with
rubies, diamonds and emeralds are mentioned by the Mughal chronicler Abu'l Fazl, and a range
of examples survive; the series of hard stone daggers in the form of horses heads is particularly
impressive.
The Mughals were also fine metallurgists they introduced Damascus steel and refined the locally
produced Wootz steel, the Mughals also introduced the "bidri" technique of metalwork in which
silver motifs are pressed against a black background. Famous Mughal metallurgists like Ali
Kashmiri and Muhammed Salih Thatawi created the seamless celestial globes.
Safavids and Qajars

Entrance to Sheykh Lotfollah mosque, Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Isfahan

The Iranian Safavids, a dynasty stretching from 1501 to 1786, is distinguished from the Mughal
and Ottoman Empires, and earlier Persian rulers, in part through the Shi'a faith of its shahs,
which they succeeded in making the majority denomination in Persia. Ceramic arts are marked
by the strong influence of Chinese porcelain, often executed in blue and white. Architecture
flourished, attaining a high point with the building program of Shah Abbas in Isfahan, which
44

included numerous gardens, palaces (such as Ali Qapu), an immense bazaar, and a large imperial
mosque.

Bou Inania Madrasa, Fes, Morocco, zellige mosaic tiles forming elaborate geometric tessellations

The art of manuscript illumination also achieved new heights, in particular in the Shah Tahmasp
Shahnameh, an immense copy of Ferdowsis poem containing more than 250 paintings. In the
17th century a new type of painting develops, based around the album (muraqqa). The albums
were the creations of conoisseurs who bound together single sheets containing paintings,
drawings, or calligraphy by various artists, sometimes excised from earlier books, and other
times created as independent works. The paintings of Reza Abbasi figure largely in this new art
of the book, depicting one or two larger figures, typically idealized beauties in a garden setting,
often using the grisaille techniques previously used for border paintings for the background.
After the fall of the Safavids, the Qajars, a Turkmen tribe established from centuries on the banks
of the Caspian Sea, assumed power. Qajar art displays an increasing European influence, as in
the large oil paintings portraying the Qajar shahs. Steelwork also assumed a new importance.
Like the Ottomans, the Qajar dynasty survived until 1925, a few years after the First World War.

Modern period
From the 15th century, the number of smaller Islamic courts began to fall, as the Ottoman
Empire, and later the Safavids and European powers, swallowed them up; this had an effect on
Islamic art, which was usually strongly led by the patronage of the court. From at least the 18th
century onwards, elite Islamic art was increasingly influenced by European styles, and in the
applied arts either largely adopted Western styles, or ceased to develop, retaining whatever style
was prevalent at some point in the late 18th or early 19th centuries. Many industries with very
long histories, such as pottery in Iran, largely closed, while others, like metalwork in brass,
became generally frozen in style, with much of their production going to tourists or exported as
oriental exotica.
The carpet industry has remained large, but mostly uses designs that originated before 1700, and
competes with machine-made imitations both locally and around the world. Arts and crafts with
45

a broader social base, like the zellige mosaic tiles of the Maghreb, have often survived better.
Islamic countries have developed modern and contemporary art, with very vigorous art worlds in
some countries, but the degree to which these should be grouped in a special category as "Islamic
art" is questionable, although many artists deal with Islam-related themes, and use traditional
elements such as calligraphy. Especially in the oil-rich parts of the Islamic world much modern
architecture and interior decoration makes use of motifs and elements drawn from the heritage of
Islamic art.
Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar, 2001, Islamic Art and Architecture:
6501250, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-08869-4, p.3; Brend, 10
J. M. Bloom; S. S. Blair (2009). Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture, Vol. II. New York:
Oxford University Press. pp. vii. ISBN 978-0-19-530991-1.
Davies, Penelope J.E. Denny, Walter B. Hofrichter, Frima Fox. Jacobs, Joseph. Roberts, Ann M.
Simon, David L. Janson's History of Art, Prentice Hall; 2007, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Seventh
Edition, ISBN 0-13-193455-4 pg. 277
MSN Encarta: Islamic Art and architecture. Archived from the original on 2009-10-31.
Melikian, Souren (December 5, 2008). "Qatar's Museum of Islamic Art: Despite flaws, a house of
masterpieces". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved September 6, 2011. This is a European construct
of the 19th century that gained wide acceptance following a display of Les Arts Musulmans at the old
Trocadero palace in Paris during the 1889 Exposition Universelle. The idea of "Islamic art" has even less
substance than the notion of "Christian art" from the British Isles to Germany to Russia during the 1000
years separating the reigns of Charlemagne and Queen Victoria might have.
See Also
Melikian, Souren (April 24, 2004). "Toward a clearer vision of 'Islamic' art". International Herald
Tribune. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
Blair, Shirley S.; Bloom, Jonathan M. (2003). "The Mirage of Islamic Art: Reflections on the Study of
an Unwieldy Field". The Art Bulletin 85 (1): 152184. JSTOR 3177331.
De Guise, Lucien. "What is Islamic Art?". Islamica Magazine. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
Madden (1975), pp.423430
Thompson, Muhammad; Begum, Nasima. "Islamic Textile Art: Anomalies in Kilims". Salon du Tapis
d'Orient. TurkoTek. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
Alexenberg, Melvin L. (2006). The future of art in a digital age: from Hellenistic to Hebraic
consciousness. Intellect Ltd. p. 55. ISBN 1-84150-136-0.
Backhouse, Tim. "Only God is Perfect". Islamic and Geometric Art. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
46

 John L. Esposito (2010), The future of Islam, Oxford University Press, page 42
The Arab Contribution to Islamic Art: From the Seventh to the Fifteenth Centuries, Wijdan Ali,
American Univ in Cairo Press, December 10, 1999, ISBN 977-424-476-1
From the Literal to the Spiritual: The Development of the Prophet Muhammad's Portrayal from 13th
Century Ilkhanid Miniatures to 17th Century Ottoman Art, Wijdan Ali, EJOS (Electronic Journal of Oriental
Studies), volume IV, issue 7, p. 1-24, 2001
Islamic Archaeology in the Sudan - Page 22, Intisar Soghayroun Elzein - 2004
Arts, p. 223. see nos. 278290
J. Bloom; S. Blair (2009). Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
pp. 192 and 207. ISBN 978-0-19-530991-1.
Davies, Penelope J.E. Denny, Walter B. Hofrichter, Frima Fox. Jacobs, Joseph. Roberts, Ann M.
Simon, David L. Janson's History of Art, Prentice Hall; 2007, Upper Saddle, New Jersey. Seventh Edition,
ISBN 0-13-193455-4 pg. 298
King and Sylvester, throughout, but 928, 4950, & 59 in particular
King and Sylvester, 27, 6162, as "The Medici Mamluk Carpet"
King and Sylvester, 5966, 7983
King and Sylvester: Spanish carpets: 1112, 5052; Balkans: 77 and passim
Mason (1995), p. 5
Henderson, J.; McLoughlin, S. D.; McPhail, D. S. (2004). "Radical changes in Islamic glass technology:
evidence for conservatism and experimentation with new glass recipes from early and middle Islamic
Raqqa, Syria". Archaeometry 46 (3): 43968. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2004.00167.x.
Mason (1995), p. 7
Arts, 206207
See Rawson throughout; Canby, 120123, and see index; Jones & Mitchell, 206211
Savage, 175, suggests that the Persians had made some experiments towards producing it, and the
earliest European porcelain, Medici porcelain, was made in the late 16th century, perhaps with a Persian
or Levantine assistant on the team.
Baer, Eva (1983). Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art. State University of New York Press. pp. 58, 86,
143, 151, 176, 201, 226, 243, 292, 304. ISBN 0-87395-602-8.
47

 Arts, 131, 135. The Introduction (pp. 131135) is by Ralph Pinder-Wilson, who shared the catalogue
entries with Waffiya Essy.
Encyclopaedia Judaica, "Glass", Online version
Arts, 131133
Arts, 131, 141
Arts, 141
Endnote 111 in Roman glass: reflections on cultural change, Fleming, Stuart. see also endnote 110
for Jewish glassworkers
Arts, 131, 133135
Arts, 131135, 141146; quote, 134
Arts, 134135
Alexandian, Sonia. Understanding Islamic Metal Technology, Islamic Art and Architecture. March
16, 2011, accessed April 14, 2013.
Hadithic texts against gold and silver vessels
Arts, 201, and earlier pages for animal shapes.
But see Arts, 170, where the standard view is disputed
"Base of a ewer with Zodiac medallions [Iran] (91.1.530)". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New
York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2011; see also on astrology, Carboni, Stefano. Following the
Stars: Images of the Zodiac in Islamic Art. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997), 16. The
inscription reads: Bi-l-yumn wa al-baraka meaning With bliss and divine grace
Arts, 157160, and exhibits 161204
See the relevant sections in "Arts"
Fatimid Rock Crystal Ewers, Most Valuable Objects in Islamic Art
Arts, 120121
Table in the Victoria & Albert Museum
Rogers and Ward, 156
Arts, 147150, and exhibits following
48

 Arts, 6568; 74, no. 3

Louvre, Suaire de St-Josse. Exhibited as no. 4 in Arts, 74.
Arts, 68, 71, 8286, 106108, 110111, 114115
Gruber, World of Art
Hillenbrand (1999), p.40
Hillenbrand (1999), p.54
Hillenbrand (1999), p.58
Hillenbrand (1999), p.89
Hillenbrand (1999), p.91
Hillenbrand (1999), Chapter 4
Hillenbrand, p.100
Hillenbrand, p.128-131

63.

References
Books and journals

49

Ali, Wijdan (2001). "From the Literal to the Spiritual: The Development of the Prophet
Muhammad's Portrayal from 13th Century Ilkhanid Miniatures to 17th Century Ottoman Art"
(PDF). EJOS 4 (7).
Blair, S. Bloom, J. 'The Mirage of Islamic Art: Reflections on the Study of an Unwieldy Field'. The
Art Bulletin, 2003, 85, 1, 152-184, PDF
Bloom, Sheila and Jonathan, eds., Rivers of Paradise: Water in Islamic Art and Culture, Yale
University Press, 2009.
Canby, Sheila R. (ed). Shah Abbas; The Remaking of Iran, 2009, British Museum Press, ISBN 9780-7141-2452-0
Ettinghausen, Richard; Grabar, Oleg; Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn (2003). Islamic Art and
Architecture 6501250 (2nd ed.). Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-08869-4.
"Arts": Jones, Dalu & Michell, George, (eds); The Arts of Islam, Arts Council of Great Britain,
1976, ISBN 0-7287-0081-6
King, Donald and Sylvester, David eds. The Eastern Carpet in the Western World, From the 15th
to the 17th century, Arts Council of Great Britain, London, 1983, ISBN 0-7287-0362-9
Hillenbrand, Robert. Islamic Art and Architecture, Thames & Hudson World of Art series; 1999,
London. ISBN 978-0-500-20305-7
Levey, Michael; The World of Ottoman Art, 1975, Thames & Hudson, ISBN 0-500-27065-1

Madden, Edward H. (1975). "Some Characteristics of Islamic Art". Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Criticism 33 (4).
Mason, Robert B. (1995). "New Looks at Old Pots: Results of Recent Multidisciplinary Studies of
Glazed Ceramics from the Islamic World". Muqarnas: Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture
(Brill Academic Publishers) XII. ISBN 90-04-10314-7.
Rawson, Jessica, Chinese Ornament: The lotus and the dragon, 1984, British Museum
Publications, ISBN 0-7141-1431-6

Rogers J.M. and Ward R.M.; Sleyman the Magnificent, 1988, British Museum Publications ISBN

7141-1440-5

Islamic geometric patterns

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

50

0-

Detail of minaret socle of the Bibi Khanum Mosque, Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The arched vertical panels
are decorated with different geometric patterns, featuring 10-, 8- and 5-pointed stars.

51

A doorway in Ben Youssef Madrasa, Marrakech. The wooden doors are carved with a girih pattern of
strapwork with a 16-point star. The arch is surrounded with arabesques; to either side is a band of
Islamic calligraphy, above colourful geometric zellige tilework with 8-point stars.

Islamic decoration, which tends to avoid using figurative images, makes frequent use of
geometric patterns which have developed over the centuries.
The geometric designs in Islamic art are often built on combinations of repeated squares and
circles, which may be overlapped and interlaced, as can arabesques (with which they are often
combined), to form intricate and complex patterns, including a wide variety of tessellations.
These may constitute the entire decoration, may form a framework for floral or calligraphic
embellishments, or may retreat into the background around other motifs. The complexity and
variety of patterns used evolved from simple stars and lozenges in the ninth century, through a
variety of 6- to 13-point patterns by the 13th century, and finally to include also 14- and 16-point
stars in the sixteenth century.
Geometric patterns occur in a variety of forms in Islamic art and architecture including kilim
carpets, Persian girih and Moroccan zellige tilework, muqarnas decorative vaulting, jali pierced
stone screens, ceramics, leather, stained glass, woodwork, and metalwork.
Interest in Islamic geometric patterns is increasing in the West, both among craftsmen and artists
including M. C. Escher in the twentieth century, and among mathematicians and physicists
including Peter J. Lu and Paul Steinhardt who controversially claimed in 2007 that tilings at the
Darb-e Imam shrine in Isfahan could generate quasi-periodic patterns like Penrose tilings.

Background

Islamic decoration
Islamic art mostly avoids figurative images to avoid becoming objects of worship.[1] Islamic
geometric patterns derived from simpler designs used in earlier cultures: Greek, Roman, and
Sasanian. They are one of three forms of Islamic decoration, the others being the arabesque
based on curving and branching plant forms, and Islamic calligraphy; all three are frequently
used together.[2] Geometric designs and arabesques are forms of Islamic interlace patterns.[3]

Purpose
Authors such as Keith Critchlow[a] argue that Islamic patterns are created to lead the viewer to an
understanding of the underlying reality, rather than being mere decoration, as writers interested
only in pattern sometimes imply.[4][5] David Wade[b] states that "Much of the art of Islam,
whether in architecture, ceramics, textiles or books, is the art of decoration which is to say, of
transformation." Wade argues that the aim is to transfigure, turning mosques "into lightness and
pattern", while "the decorated pages of a Quran can become windows onto the infinite."[6]
Against this, Doris Behrens-Abouseif[c] states in her book Beauty in Arabic Culture that a "major
52

difference" between the philosophical thinking of Medieval Europe and the Islamic world is
exactly that the concepts of the good and the beautiful are separated in Arabic culture. She
argues that beauty, whether in poetry or in the visual arts, was enjoyed "for its own sake, without
commitment to religious or moral criteria".[7]

Tiles inside the Jame Mosque of Yazd, Persia, with geometric and vegetal patterns

Bou Inania Madrasa, Fes, Morocco, originally c. 1350, with geometric patterns and
calligraphy in stucco (zellige and simple tilework later)

A variety of vernacular decorative Islamic styles in Morocco: girih-like wooden panels,

zellige tilework, stucco calligraphy, and floral door panels

Arch in the Alhambra with Mocrabe stalactite work

53

Ayyubid Raqqa ware stoneware glazed jar with overlapping circles grid pattern. Syria,
12th/13th century

An archway in the Ottoman Green Mosque, Bursa, Turkey (1424), with girih 10-point
stars and pentagons

Pattern formation

The Shah Nematollah Vali Shrine, Mahan, Iran, 1431. The blue girih tiled dome contains stars with, from
the top, 5, 7, 9, 12, 11, 9 and 10 points in turn. 11-point stars are rare in Islamic art.[8]
Further information: Mathematics and art

Many Islamic designs are built on squares and circles, typically repeated, overlapped and
interlaced to form intricate and complex patterns.[2] A recurring motif is the 8-pointed star, often
seen in Islamic tilework; it is made of two squares, one rotated 45 degrees with respect to the
other. The fourth basic shape is the polygon, including pentagons and octagons. All of these can
be combined and reworked to form complicated patterns with a variety of symmetries including
reflections and rotations. Such patterns can be seen as mathematical tessellations, which can
extend indefinitely and thus suggest infinity.[2][9] They are constructed on grids that require only
ruler and compasses to draw.[10] Artist and educator Roman Verostko argues that such
54

constructions are in effect algorithms, making Islamic geometric patterns forerunners of modern
algorithmic art.[11]
The circle symbolizes unity and diversity in nature, and many Islamic patterns are drawn starting
with a circle.[12] For example, the decoration of the 15th century mosque in Yazd, Iran is based
on a circle, divided into six by six circles drawn around it, all touching at its centre and each
touching its two neighbours' centres to form a regular hexagon. On this basis is constructed a sixpointed star surrounded by six smaller irregular hexagons to form a tessellating star pattern. This
forms the basic design which is outlined in white on the wall of the mosque. That design,
however, is overlaid with an intersecting tracery in blue around tiles of other colours, forming an
elaborate pattern that partially conceals the original and underlying design.[12][13] A similar
design forms the logo of the Mohammed Ali Research Center.[14]
One of the early Western students of Islamic patterns, Ernest Hanbury Hankin, defined a
"geometrical arabesque" as a pattern formed "with the help of construction lines consisting of
polygons in contact."[3] He observed that many different combinations of polygons can be used
as long as the residual spaces between the polygons are reasonably symmetrical. For example, a
grid of octagons in contact has squares (of the same side as the octagons) as the residual spaces.
Every octagon is the basis for an 8-point star, as seen at Akbar's tomb, Sikandra (16051613).
Hankin considered the "skill of the Arabian artists in discovering suitable combinations of
polygons .. almost astounding."[3] He further records that if a star occurs in a corner, exactly one
quarter of it should be shown; if along an edge, exactly one half of it.[3]
The Topkap Scroll, made in Timurid dynasty Iran in the late 15th century or beginning of the
16th century, contains 114 patterns including coloured designs for girih tilings and muqarnas
quarter or semidomes.[15][16][17]
The mathematical properties of the decorative tile and stucco patterns of the Alhambra palace in
Granada, Spain have been extensively studied. Some authors have claimed on dubious grounds
to have found most or all of the 17 wallpaper groups there.[18][19] Moroccan geometric woodwork
from the 14th to 19th centuries makes use of only 5 wallpaper groups, mainly p4mm and c2mm,
with p6mm and p2mm occasionally and p4gm rarely; it is claimed that the "Hasba" method of
construction can however generate all 17 groups.[20]

Two-dimensional designs for two quarter dome muqarnas as a seashell (top), as a fan
(bottom). Topkap Scroll, 15th century
55

Girih tiling in the decagonal pattern on a spandrel from the Darb-e Imam shrine

Construction of girih pattern in Darb-e Imam spandrel (yellow line). Construction

decagons blue, bowties red. The strapwork cuts across the construction tessellation.

Analysis of octagonal patterns in Mughal architecture by Ernest Hanbury Hankin, 1925.

8-pointed stars emerge (lower right) where heavy black lines cross.

Decoration in Tomb of I'timd-ud-Daulah, Agra, showing correct treatment of sides and

corners. A quarter of each 6-point star is shown in each corner; half stars along the sides.

56

Architectural drawing for brick vaulting, Iran, probably Tehran, 180070

Evolution
Early stage: simple geometric patterns on lustre tiles in the Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia. 836
onwards

Early stage
The earliest geometrical forms in Islamic art were occasional isolated geometric shapes such as
8-pointed stars and lozenges containing squares. These date from 836 in the Great Mosque of
Kairouan, Tunisia, and since then have spread all across the Islamic world.[21]

Middle stage

Middle stage patterns on geometric borders around a Mihrab in the Alaeddin Mosque, Konya, Turkey.
1220 onwards

57

Late stage: geometric, vegetal, and calligraphic patterns around the Mihrab at the Jama Masjid,
Fatehpur Sikri. 1571-5

The next development, marking the middle stage of Islamic geometric pattern usage, was of 6and 8-point stars, which appear in 879 at the Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo, and then became
widespread.[21]
A wider variety of patterns were used from the 11th century. Abstract 6- and 8-point shapes
appear in the Tower of Kharaqan at Qazvin, Persia in 1067, and the Al-Juyushi Mosque, Egypt
in 1085, again becoming widespread from there, though 6-point patterns are rare in Turkey.[21]
In 1086, 7- and 10-point girih patterns (with heptagons, 5- and 6-pointed stars, triangles and
irregular hexagons) appear in the Friday Mosque at Isfahan. 10-point girih became widespread in
the Islamic world, except in the Spanish Al-Andalus.[21] Soon afterwards, sweeping 9-, 11-, and
13-point girih patterns were used in the Barsian Mosque, also in Persia, in 1098; these, like 7point geometrical patterns, are rarely used outside Persia and central Asia.[21]
Finally, marking the end of the middle stage, 8- and 12-point girih rosette patterns appear in the
Alaeddin Mosque at Konya, Turkey in 1220, and in the Abbasid palace in Baghdad in 1230,
going on to become widespread across the Islamic world.[21]

Late stage
The beginning of the late stage is marked by the use of simple 16-point patterns at the Hasan
Sadaqah mausoleum in Cairo in 1321, and in the Alhambra in Spain in 13381390. These
patterns are rarely found outside these two regions. More elaborate combined 16-point
geometrical patterns are found in the Sultan Hasan complex in Cairo in 1363, but rarely
elsewhere. Finally, 14-point patterns appear in the Jama Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri in India in
15711596, but in few other places.[21][d]

Artforms
Several artforms in different parts of the Islamic world make use of geometric patterns. These
include ceramics,[23] girih strapwork,[24] jali pierced stone screens,[25] kilim rugs,[26] leather,[27]
58

metalwork,[28] muqarnas vaulting,[29] shakaba stained glass,[30] woodwork,[24] and zellige

tiling.[31]

Ceramics
Ceramics lend themselves to circular motifs, whether radial or tangential. Bowls or plates can be
decorated inside or out with radial stripes; these may be partly figurative, representing stylised
leaves or flower petals, while circular bands can run around a bowl or jug. Patterns of these types
were employed on Islamic ceramics from the Ayyubid period, 13th century AD. Radially
symmetric flowers with, say, 6 petals lend themselves to increasingly stylised geometric designs
which can combine geometric simplicity with recognisably naturalistic motifs, brightly coloured
glazes, and a radial composition that ideally suits circular crockery. Potters often chose patterns
suited to the shape of the vessel they were making.[23] Thus an unglazed earthenware water
flask[e] from Aleppo in the shape of a vertical circle (with handles and neck above) is decorated
with a ring of moulded braiding around an Arabic inscription with a small 8-petalled flower at
the centre.[32]

Girih tilings and woodwork

Girih are elaborate interlacing patterns formed of five standardized shapes. The style is used in
Persian Islamic architecture and also in decorative woodwork.[24] Girih designs are traditionally
made in different media including cut brickwork, stucco, and mosaic faience tilework. In
woodwork, especially in the Safavid period, it could be applied either as lattice frames, left plain
or inset with panels such as of coloured glass; or as mosaic panels used to decorate walls and
ceilings, whether sacred or secular. In architecture, girih forms decorative interlaced strapwork
surfaces from the 15th century to the 20th century. Most designs are based on a partially hidden
geometric grid which provides a regular array of points; this is made into a pattern using 2-, 3-,
4-, and 6-fold rotational symmetries which can fill the plane. The visible pattern superimposed
on the grid is also geometric, with 6-, 8-, 10- and 12-pointed stars and a variety of convex
polygons, joined by straps which typically seem to weave over and under each other.[24][33] The
visible pattern does not coincide with the underlying tiling.[24]

Jali

59

Mosque of Ibn Tulun: window with girih-style 10-point stars (at rear), with floral roundels in hexagons
forming a frieze at front

Jali are pierced stone screens with regularly repeating patterns. They are characteristic of IndoIslamic architecture, for example in the Mughal dynasty buildings at Fatehpur Sikri and the Taj
Mahal. The geometric designs combine polygons such as octagons and pentagons with other
shapes such as 5- and 8-pointed stars. The patterns emphasized symmetries and suggested
infinity by repetition. Jali functioned as windows or room dividers, providing privacy but
allowing in air and light.[25] Jali forms a prominent element of the architecture of India.[34] The
use of perforated walls has declined with modern building standards and the need for security.
Modern, simplified jali walls, for example made with pre-moulded clay or cement blocks, have
been popularised by the architect Laurie Baker.[35] Pierced windows in girih style are sometimes
found elsewhere in the Islamic world, such as in windows of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in
Cairo.[36]

Kilim

Somewhat geometric motifs such as the Wolf's Mouth (Kurt Azi), to protect the flocks against wolves,
are often woven into tribal kilims.

A kilim is an Islamic[26] flatwoven carpet (without a pile), whether for household use or a prayer
mat. The pattern is made by winding the weft threads back over the warp threads when a colour
boundary is reached. This technique leaves a gap or vertical slit, so kilims are sometimes called
slit-woven textiles. Kilims are often decorated with geometric patterns with 2- or 4-fold mirror or
rotational symmetries. Because weaving uses vertical and horizontal threads, curves are difficult
to generate, and patterns are accordingly formed mainly with straight edges.[13][37] Kilim patterns
are often characteristic of specific regions.[38] Kilim motifs are often symbolic as well as
60

decorative. For example, the wolf's mouth or wolf's foot motif (Turkish: Kurt Azi, Kurt zi)
expresses the tribal weavers' desires for protection of their families' flocks from wolves.[39]

Leather
Islamic leather is often embossed with patterns similar to those already described. Leather book
covers, starting with the Quran where figurative artwork was excluded, were decorated with a
combination of kufic script, medallions and geometric patterns, typically bordered by geometric
braiding.[27]

Metalwork
Metal artefacts share the same geometric designs that are used in other forms of Islamic art.
However, in the view of Hamilton Gibb, the emphasis differs: geometric patterns tend to be used
for borders, and if they are in the main decorative area they are most often used in combination
with other motifs such as floral designs, arabesques, animal motifs, or calligraphic script.
Geometric designs in Islamic metalwork can form a grid decorated with these other motifs, or
they can form the background pattern.[28]
Even where metal objects such as bowls and dishes do not seem to have geometric decoration,
still the designs, such as arabesques, are often set in octagonal compartments or arranged in
concentric bands around the object. Both closed designs (which do not repeat) and open or
repetitive patterns are used. Patterns such as interlaced six-pointed stars were especially popular
from the twelfth century. Eva Baer[f] notes that while this design was essentially simple, it was
elaborated by metalworkers into intricate patterns interlaced with arabesques, sometimes
organised around further basic Islamic patterns, such as the hexagonal pattern of six overlapping
circles.[41]

Muqarnas
Muqarnas are elaborately carved ceilings to semidomes, often used in mosques. They are
typically made of stucco (and thus do not have a structural function), but can also be of wood,
brick, and stone. They are characteristic of Islamic architecture of the Middle Ages from Spain
and Morocco in the west to Persia in the east. Architecturally they form multiple tiers of
squinches, diminishing in size as they rise. They are often elaborately decorated.[29]

Stained glass
Geometrically patterned stained glass is used in a variety of settings in Islamic architecture. It is
found in the surviving summer residence of the Palace of Shaki Khans, Azerbaijan, constructed
in 1797. Patterns in the "shabaka" windows include 6-, 8-, and 12-point stars. These woodframed decorative windows are distinctive features of the palace's architecture. Shabaka are still
constructed the traditional way in Sheki in the 21st century.[30][42] Traditions of stained glass set
61

in wooden frames (not lead as in Europe) survive in workshops in Iran as well as Azerbaijan.[43]
Glazed windows set in stucco arranged in girih-like patterns are found both in Turkey and the
Arab lands; a late example, without the traditional balance of design elements, was made in
Tunisia for the International Colonial Exhibition in Amsterdam in 1883.[44] The old city of Sana'a
in Yemen has stained glass windows in its tall buildings.[45]

Zellige
Zellige are glazed terracotta tiles set into plaster, forming colourful mosaic patterns including
regular and semiregular tessellations. The tradition is characteristic of Morocco, but is also found
in Moorish Spain. Zellige is used to decorate mosques, public buildings and wealthy private
houses.[31]

Illustrations

Safavid bowl with radial and circular motifs, Persia, 17th century

Lustre tiles from Iran, probably Kashan, 1262, in the shapes of the Sufi symbols for the
divine breath

Side of a wooden Minbar (pulpit) with 12-point stars. 14th century. Turkish and Islamic
Arts Museum

62

Jali pierced screens at the tomb of Salim Chishti, Fatehpur Sikri, India

Kilim from Turkey

Leather prayer book cover, Persia, 16th century

Iron gate with 10-point stars and kites at Al-Rifa'i Mosque, Cairo (18691912)

Detail of bronze door, Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan, Cairo, decorated with

strapwork
63

Muqarnas in Shah Mosque, Isfahan, Iran

Geometric shabaka stained glass in the 1797 Palace of Shaki Khans, Azerbaijan

Traditional Window, Sana'a, Yemen

Zellige at Place El-Hedine, Meknes, Morocco

In Western culture

64

A tessellation of glazed ceramic tiles forming colourful geometric patterns in the Alhambra, Spain, which
inspired M. C. Escher[46]

It is sometimes supposed in Western society that mistakes in repetitive Islamic patterns such as
those on carpets were intentionally introduced as a show of humility by artists who believed only
Allah can produce perfection, but this theory is denied.[47][48][49]

Tessellations, arabesques and calligraphy on a wall of the Myrtle court, Alhambra, Granada, Spain

Major Western collections hold many objects of widely varying materials with Islamic geometric
patterns. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds at least 283 such objects, of
materials including wallpaper, carved wood, inlaid wood, tin- or lead-glazed earthenware, brass,
stucco, glass, woven silk, ivory, and pen or pencil drawings.[50] The Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York has among other relevant holdings 124 mediaeval (10001400 A.D.) objects
bearing Islamic geometric patterns,[51] including a pair of Egyptian minbar (pulpit) doors almost
2 m. high in rosewood and mulberry inlaid with ivory and ebony;[52] and an entire mihrab (prayer
niche) from Isfahan, decorated with polychrome mosaic, and weighing over 2,000 kg.[53]
The Dutch artist M. C. Escher was inspired by the Alhambra's intricate decorative designs to
study the mathematics of tessellation, transforming his style and influencing the rest of his
artistic career.[54][55] In his own words it was "the richest source of inspiration I have ever
tapped."[56]
Cultural organisations such as the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and the Institute for
Advanced Study run events on geometric patterns and related aspects of Islamic art.[57] In 2013
the Istanbul Center of Design and the Ensar Foundation ran what they claimed was the first ever
symposium of Islamic Arts and Geometric Patterns, in Istanbul. The panel included the experts
on Islamic geometric pattern Carol Bier,[g] Jay Bonner,[h] Eric Broug,[i] Hacali Necefolu[j] and
Reza Sarhangi.[k][63] In Britain, The Prince's School of Traditional Arts runs a range of courses in
65

Islamic art including geometry, calligraphy, and arabesque (vegetal forms), tile-making, and
plaster carving.[64]
Computer graphics and computer-aided manufacturing make it possible to design and produce
Islamic geometric patterns effectively and economically. Craig S. Kaplan explains and illustrates
in his Ph.D. thesis how Islamic star patterns can be generated algorithmically.[65]
Two physicists, Peter J. Lu and Paul Steinhardt, attracted controversy in 2007 by claiming[66] that
girih designs such as that used on the Darb-e Imam shrine[l] in Isfahan were able to create quasiperiodic tilings resembling those discovered by Roger Penrose in 1973. They showed that rather
than the traditional ruler and compass construction, it was possible to create girih designs using a
set of five "girih tiles", all equilateral polygons, secondarily decorated with lines (for the
strapwork).[67]

Tomb towers of two Seljuk princes at Kharaghan, Qazvin province, Iran, covered with many different
brick patterns like those that inspired Ahmad Rafsanjani to create auxetic materials

In 2016, Ahmad Rafsanjani described the use of Islamic geometric patterns from tomb towers in
Iran to create auxetic materials from perforated rubber sheets. These are stable in either a
contracted or an expanded state, and can switch between the two, which might be useful for
surgical stents or for spacecraft components. When a conventional material is stretched along
one axis, it contracts along other axes (at right angles to the stretch). But auxetic materials
expand at right angles to the pull. The internal structure that enables this unusual behaviour is
inspired by two of the 70 Islamic patterns that Rafsanjani noted on the tomb towers.[68]

Notes
1.
Critchlow is a professor of architecture, and the author of a book on Islamic patterns.
Wade is the author of a series of books on pattern in various artforms.
Behrens-Abouseif is a professor of the history of art and architecture at SOAS.
One such place is the Mustansiriyya Madrasa in Baghdad, as illustrated by Broug.[22]
66

 Leaving the flask porous allowed evaporation, keeping the water cool.[32]
Baer is Emeritus Professor of Islamic Studies at Tel Aviv University.[40]
Bier is a historian of Islamic art who studies pattern.[58]
Bonner is an architect specialising in Islamic ornament.[59]
Broug writes books and runs courses on Islamic geometric design.[60]
Necefolu is a professor of chemistry at Kafkas University interested in pattern and
crystallography.[61]
Sarhangi is the founder of The Bridges Organization. He studies the mathematics of Persian
architecture and mosaic design.[62]
12.

Illustrated above.

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Hankin, Ernest Hanbury (1925). The Drawing of Geometric Patterns in Saracenic Art. Memoirs of the
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Critchlow, Keith (1976). Islamic Patterns : an analytical and cosmological approach. Thames and
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Baer, Eva. "Ayyubid Metalwork With Christian Images". Google Books. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
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Hansen, Eri c (21 December 2011). "Sanaa Rising "a Venice built on sand."". Islamic Arts &
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Thompson, Muhammad; Begum, Nasima. "Islamic Textile Art: Anomalies in Kilims". Salon du Tapis
d'Orient. TurkoTek. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
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Backhouse, Tim. "Only God is Perfect". Islamic and Geometric Art. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
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Roza, Greg (2005). An Optical Artist: Exploring Patterns and Symmetry. Rosen Classroom. p. 20.
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"Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art". National Math Festival. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
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Bonner, Jay. "About". Bonner Design. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
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Star Patterns". University of Waterloo (PhD thesis). Retrieved 4 December 2015.
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Webb, Jonathan (16 March 2016). "Islamic art inspires stretchy, switchable materials".
British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 March 2016.

External links

Museum with no Frontiers: Geometric Decoration

Victoria and Albert Museum: Teachers' resource: Maths and Islamic art & design

Edit links

71

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may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a
registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Savage, George. Porcelain Through the Ages, Penguin, (2nd edn.) 1963
Sinclair, Susan. Bibliography of Art and Architecture in the Islamic World. Volume 1: Art. 2012,
BRILL

Further reading

72

Abdullahi Y.; Embi M. R. B (2015). Evolution Of Abstract Vegetal Ornaments On Islamic

Architecture. International Journal of Architectural Research: Archnet-IJAR.
Carboni, Stefano; Whitehouse, David (2001). Glass of the sultans. New York: The Metropolitan
Museum of Art. ISBN 0-87099-986-9.
Dodds, J.D. (1992). Al-Andalus: the art of Islamic Spain. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of
Art. ISBN 978-0-87099-636-8.
Wilkinson, Charles K. (1973). Nishapur: pottery of the early Islamic period. New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 0-87099-076-4.
Yahya Abdullahi; Mohamed Rashid Bin Embi (2013). Evolution of Islamic geometric patterns.
Frontiers of Architectural Research: Elsevier.

Religious Structures In Kingston, Jamaica

The Jewish Synagogue , Down Town, Kingston

73

74

75

76

The Seventh Day Adventist Church On North Street In Kingston,

77

The Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church , North Street, Kingston

78

The Kingston Parish Church,

Kingston

79

80

81

The Apostolic Church Of Jamaica, In Kingston Gardens, Kingston

82

The Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, Half Way Tree, Kingston, Jamaica W.I.

83

Side View Of A Church In Kingston Below

84

Christ The Redeemer Moravian Church in, Kingston below:-

85

St. Andrew Parish

Church in Half Way Tree, Kingston

86

The study of a Church, in Kingston which shows clear British architectural retentions, please note and
compare features with those Churches which were built in the architectural style of the Sephardim and
or Moors.

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

Sephardic & Moorish Influenced Church Building Continues,

A Study Of The Coke Methodist Church, East Parade, Down Town Kingston

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

The Scots Kirk Anglican Church , Duke Street, Kingston

101

102

103

The United Church, On Duke Street, Near To East Queens Street, Down Town Kingston

104

105

106

107

108

109

St. Pauls Church In Kingston Gardens

110

111

112

113

Church Of God, Saints Of Christ , In Kingston Gardens

114

115

116

Church Hall At St. Pauls, In Kingston Gardens Built In British Style

117

Moorish and or Sephardic Influence can be clearly seen on the ground in the forecourt on which
the girl is standing.

118

Section 2 Commercial and or Government Buildings

As it was stated in the previous section dealing with religious structures, here too it must be
noted, that the buildings shown her represents but a very small sample of what is, an there is
no way that all similar structures could be displayed here. For the purpose of comparison a few
buildings constructed in British architectural style as are common in the British Caribbean are
also displayed.

The Bank of Nova Scotia, Down Town, Kingston

119

120

121

122

No Quatting!
The concept of Quat" symbolic meaning is possibly an attempt to withdraw from social
conflicts and the challenges of society, hiding from Judas, hiding from Bagga- Wire who
betrayed Marcus Garvey.
"Quat" as a concept, which also relates to the physical environment. The attempt to avoid
competition, the wish not to be seen, the desire to keep a low profile. While to "Jucki-Jam"
would mean acting within constraints, Quat is to act below the constraints. Quat is without
movement, static.
The origin of the word Quat is the English word "Squat, a verb with three pictorial images, with
all passive in nature and feminine in essence, one thinks of a soldier squatting to reduce size and
visibility, an Indian squatting against a wall etc and a woman squatting. In terms of relationship
with land, one thinks of illegal occupation of property with restricted ability to build permanent
123

structures. In street language, it is the same as to "hold a corner" as different from holding off a
corner".
To "Jucki-Jam" is very much like holding off a corner" or to rubba dub.
The song Wait Yuh Turn" by Alkaline , a song which is a favourite of both the political
establishment and the clerical elite , as it openly encourages " Quating" as a social response to
inequality and injustice. The Effemination of the young people and the further marginalization of
the women.
While Nesbeth in his song "My Dream, My Dream", shows from his personal experience that
personal and social victories can be won even under conditions of capitalism, as is shown by the
small business people Downtown Kingston and the people of Greater Portmore who have laid
claim to the Sephardic- Moorish attitude and outlook on life, Alkaline is telling the poor and the
middle class that their day will come, they should surrender and wait their turn. The message of
the "Trickle Down Theory" expressed in song.
Perhaps the song " Take Your Time, Take It Easy" by Hopeton Lewis, best summarizes what is
meant to "Jucki-Jam" and the experiences of the small business operator or street side vendor
who might have had very good sales last week and a very bad sales this week, in the case of the
street side vendor the police possibly had seized his cart and goods last week and he has to find
money to restart his business this week. For the secretary it is the third week in the month, a
week before her monthly salary and her rent is now due, her mother is ill, and the children's
father is broke. They cannot afford to Quat, nor can they afford to be reckless, but rather rely on
the means at their disposal to fight their way through until they have crossed the rough patches in
their lives' roads. Either, Quating and becoming depressed or become reckless and run into
conflicts with the law, is in keeping with the roads the political establishment and the clerical
elite had paved for them.
While the song "I Am In A Dancing Mood" by Delroy Wilson, reflects the upside of to "JuckiJam" when things are going well and one has overcome the main pot holes encountered so far. It
is the song of the working people and small business operators celebrating their victories, the
victories which Alkaline and his ideological bedfellows would have denied them. The tiled
sidewalks of the business establishments, both large and small, reflects that hope for the future
and celebrations of past victories.
Revolution we are taught is the overthrow of one class by another, the replacement of
dictatorship by dictatorship, the Sephardic-Moorish architectural retentions in the City of
Kingston, shows that it is the creation of that socio- cultural space which fosters and facilitates
the cultural and economic expressions of all groups, classes, religions, gender and races in
complimentary relationships. Where these complimentary relationships break down as they do
frequently in West Kingston, all groups with the exception of the political establishment and the
clerical elite, come out as losers. Revolution is the creation of that socio- economic space which
runs counter to the mission, policies and intention of those who have appropriated the symbols of
the people for their own selfish gains and to guarantee the continuity of their rule at the expense
of all other groups within the Jamaican society.
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The General Legal Council Building on Harbour Street, Down Town Kingston

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A Section Of Kingston Technical High School Kingston

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Building Belonging To Grace Kennedy & Company Limited On Harbour Street Down Town Kingston,

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New Hope Preparatory School, North Street , Down Town

Kingston,

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Offices On Duke Street, Down Town, Kingston,

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A Store At The Corner of Church And Law Streets, Down Town, Kingston

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Towards A Better Understanding Of The Photos Being Examined

It is important, that when one looks at the retentions of both the Moors and Sephardic Jews as are
manifested in the Jamaican architectural landscape in particular the landscape of Downtown, Kingston,
that the work of Pierre Bourdie on Cultural Reproduction and Symbolic Power be taken into account.
Bearing in mind that the cultural reproduction of symbols also carries with it in the Jamaican context, a
process of appropriation of symbols for the claiming of legitimacy as in the case of the
appropriation of the Jewish-Moorish architectural styles by the Anglican Church and other have shown,
to show legitimacy of dominance and capture even as those very same usage symbolizes a refusal to
surrender self and identity to the British and or Christian Crown.

From this perspective, architectural styles as are shown in this section , embodies both dominance and
resistance. One could not wish away the British Governor and the Christian Church nor could the British
or the Christian Church wish away that which is built in stone.

One notes a similar process of appropriation of symbols by the Rastafarian community, in respect to the
Ethiopian flag, usage of the Royal Ethiopian Heraldic lion as a symbol, the image of the late king of
Ethiopia etc, which on one hand symbolizes both collective and individual surrender to the Ethiopian
crown while at the same time symbolizing resistance to White domination and the Roman Catholic
Church.

The adoption and usage of Moorish-Jewish architectural styles in residential buildings , particularly those
in Greater Portmore and other sections of the Municipality of Portmore , St. Catherine, should be
understood, both as the appropriation of symbols to show admiration and resistance to being forced by
the existing economic conditions and social relationships, to purchase for living purposes, buildings
which were not designed to meet the environmental and social realities of topical climatic conditions,
which brings with it oppressive daytime temperatures, partly for that reason, Portmore is called by
many the Sunshine City.

Here retention also has a functional value in addition to a communicative value, drawing on ones
historic and cultural legacy to satisfy todays practical needs and as symbols of resistance to the
oppressive intents and actions of the state in respect to its housing policy. The usage of Moorish
Jewish styles is also for many a manifestation of the result of a vote taken between several now existing
different building styles and hence should be seen as an exercise of power by the middle and working
classes.
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Symbols as environmental elements with both communicative and functional values, in respect to
architecture, and with defined relationship with power, exist in a given space and at a given time. The
power as wielded by the state is not necessarily the same in content or form as power wielded by a
community and its leadership. Here the view is taken that state power is not constant over space and
time and is modified and or moderated by the social relationships it encounters and distance from the
center. Within this context, the meaning and value of symbols also vary, and with it, the reasons for and
effectiveness of their use.
Hence the usage of Moorish-Sephardic architecture within Downtown, Kingston, has a greater
declarative and protest value when viewed at a fixed moment in time, while the usage of these very
same architectural features in Portmore is less declarative in value and are more functional. Downtown,
being the center of power, demands that greater effort, energy and resources are expended on
Declaration and Protest , while Portmore as a result of distance from the center of power and the
demands of the environment (hot and dry) has had to dedicate more energy and resources on
maximizing the functional value of the symbols.

Downtown, Kingston, resistance is against the forced assimilation and the creation of Nobodiness
while in Portmore, the resistance is in the main against being forced to live in mal-designed houses and
the plan as you go community development concept employed by the developers and the state.

It is from this very same perspective, the British Colonial State and its agencies , in order to legitimize its
claim to power , had had to expend more resources its its employment and usage of Sephardic Moorish
architectural forms Dow Town, which is the center or seat of power, while in Portmore a new
community, there was no previous need to employ these types of appropriated symbols. One however,
must note that the new Anglican Church by the Greater Portmore, round-a-bout was constructed in
Moorish-Sephardic Style.

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St. Georges College, North Street, Kingston

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Government Buildings At Justice Square

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A Store And Office Complex Next To Justice Square Down Town Kingston

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Buildings Showing British Retentions In Architecture

As can be seen below both in design, presentation and lay out, those buildings which were
designed in keeping with British traditions are very different from those which were designed in
keeping with Moorish-Sephardic architectural traditions.
A Building At The St. Andrew Parish Church, In Half Way Tree

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Tastee In Half Way Tree

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The Jamaica Banana Board In Kingston Gardens, Kingston

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An Office Building in Half Way Tree

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St. Andrew Prep School In Half Way Tree,

Moorish-Sephardic Retentions Continue,

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Sir William Grant Park, Down Town, Kingston

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St. Georges Girls School, Duke Street, Down Town , Kingston

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The Institute Of Jamaica, Eat Street, Jamaica

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The Victoria Mutual Building Society Building on Duke Street,

Down Town, Kingston,

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Looking Through The Roof At The Sun

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Moorish-Sephardic with Cubist elements:-Building on Duke Street, In Kingston

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A Cubist Structure On Duke Street, Kingston

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Looking At A Church From The Campus Of The University Of Technology, Jamaica, Old Hope Road,
Papine, Kingston

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Modernism

The Income Tax Building on East Street in Kingston

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Another Approach, A building on East Street behind the Gas Station Across from
the National Heroes Circle

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Section 3- Sidewalks

Moorish-Sephardic architectural retentions are not only seen in the way buildings were and are
constructed, but also in the approach taken to the pavements bordering business places and or
residences. In this section, a small sample of sidewalks finished in keeping with the MoorishSephardic traditions is presented. Some purists maybe a bit upset that in many cases, the basic
geometrical patterns were and are modified and have become more abstract, it however there
purists should realize that the culture of a people undergoes changes over time, that newer and
younger generations will as everywhere else in the world, seek to experiment with forms and
presentation and that tastes too do change over time.

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Glimpses at the walkway and seating area outside the Faculty of Medicine Building at the
University of The West Indies, Mona Campus,

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Common Commercial Type of Tiles

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Small Business Sidewalk Tiling, Laws Street, Down Town Kingston

The broken concrete container exposing the roots of the tree tells us that this work was not
done recently.

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The concrete infills on this sidewalk also indicates the advancing age of the tiled sidewalk

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Sidewalk by the Family Court On Duke Street, Kingston

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Sidewalk by the Coke Methodist Church, Downtown Kingston, Long view

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Coke Methodist Church Tiled Sidewalk, Downtown, Kingston

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Sidewalk By Ward Theatre, Downtown, Kingston

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looking to the right towards Kings Street from The Ward Theatre
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Note the cobble stones

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Small Business Tiled Sidewalk, look straight across the street to the sidewalk on the opposite
side of the road, Law Street, Downtown, Kingston

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Small business, Stone tiled sidewalk, on the lane directly behind

the Pearnell Charles Arcade, Downtown, Kinston

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Brick sidewalk, Duke and Laws Street intersection, Downtown, Kingston

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Kingston Conference Center, Downtown, Kingston

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Looking across the road from the Conference Center at the Bank of Jamaica

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Looking north from the Conference Center

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Expressionism and Classic British Finished Sidewalk, Duke and Law

Street Corner, Down Town , Kingston
Note that it is not an European tradition to decorate their sidewalks or to pay great
attention to their aesthetics. In fact this finish as shown is in keeping with the traditions
of Andalusia. Thus here one is in fact looking at how a Hasidic approach and use of
material combined with Sephardi / Moorish artistry could produce a culturally acceptable
sidewalk and exterior finish. This work however cannot be so claimed and the reverse is
far closer to the truth:- Sephardi /Moorish adaptation of Central European Jewish artistry
(abstract -expressionism) and material choices.

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Tiled Sidewalk On Kings Street , Down Town Kingston, Moorish-Sephardic Traditions

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Sidewalk across the road from the post office by Justice Square, Down Town, Kingston

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Round The Bend Bar and Restaurant, Kirk Square, Down Town Kingston
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Breakfast and Lunch Also Served at Restaurant Window by the entrance

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Orange Street and Barry Street Corner, by Mothers

Patty, See Next Page

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Tiled sidewalk on Orange Street

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Tiled Sidewalk on North Street

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Section 3 , Grills and Fencing Down Town, Kingston

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To Be Restored

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The Ward Theatre, Jamaicas National Theatre,

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A young man hustling videos by the Ward Theatre

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When The social net fails. The old and the elderly camping out by the Ward Theatre

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When the social net collapses and there is nowhere to go

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A look at some of the grillwork by the Ward Theatre

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When the social net fails and insanity and homelessness takes over

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On Orange Street Next To Captain Bakery

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To be repaired

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Former Rastafarian Place Of Gathering And Worship, Pan Africanist Base In The Background, Sir
William Grant Park

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Folk Church Under The Big Tree, South Parade, Kingston

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Neglect
Commuters wait in the sun and in the rain to fight to get on to government owned buses, while about
five minutes away by foot there stands a grossly underutilized car park which could easily be modified
to accommodate all the buses which terminate their routes Down Town , Kingston

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A Man Selling Conch Shells Downtown Kingston, Awaiting In Faith For The Arrival Of A Tourist

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A Challenge For The Students Of The University Of The West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica
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The City has tried to collect plastic bottles, but the facilities and opportunities for recycling are
extremely limited if any.

End

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